Electrochemical oxidative decarboxylation and 1,2-aryl migration towards the synthesis of 1,2-diaryl ethers

Chem Sci. 2020 Sep 2;11(36):10000-10004. doi: 10.1039/d0sc03708g.

Abstract

Carboxylic acid compounds are important chemicals and are widely present in various natural products. They are not only nucleophiles, but also radical precursors. Classic transition-metal-catalyzed and photochemical decarboxylation have shown their excellent site selectivity in radical chemistry. However, electrochemical decarboxylation with a long history hasn't got enough attention in recent years. In this work, the electrochemical oxidative decarboxylation and 1,2-aryl migration of 3,3-diarylpropionic acids have been introduced to construct C-O bonds with alcohols. Remarkably, this transformation can proceed smoothly without metal catalysts and external oxidants.