Electrophotochemical Decarboxylative Azidation of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids

We report an electrophotochemical metal-catalyzed strategy that harnesses the power of light and electricity for radical decarboxylative functionalization of aliphatic carboxylic acids. This environmentally friendly protocol smoothly converts a diverse array of aliphatic carboxylic acids into the corresponding alkyl azides without using chemical oxidants or azido-group transfer reagents. The visible light energy and electric energy can be applied in a spatially separated fashion with a modular electro-flow-cell for large-scale synthesis.