A simple and robust method for electrochemical alkyl C-H fluorination is presented. Using a simple nitrate additive, a widely available fluorine source (Selectfluor), and carbon-based electrodes, a wide variety of activated and unactivated C-H bonds were converted to their C-F congeners. The scalability of the reaction was also demonstrated with a 100 gram preparation of fluorovaline.
Keywords: C–H functionalization; electrochemistry; fluorination; organic synthesis; radical.