Electrochemically enabled C(sp3)–C(sp) cross-coupling of alkyl iodides, N-hydroxyphthalimide esters, and Katritzky salts with acetylenic sulfones

Abstract

An electrochemically enabled C(sp³)–C(sp) cross-coupling reaction is herein described for the synthesis of internal alkynes. This method is suitable not only for a diverse range of acetylenic sulfones, but also for a wide range of alkyl radical precursors, such as alkyl iodides, N-hydroxyphthalimide esters and Katritzky salts. This method can also be applied to vinylation, thioetherification, selenation and hydrogenation reactions. This reaction has a lot of significant advantages such as mild conditions, broad functional group tolerance, simple operation and easy purification and scale-up.