Electrochemically mediated decarboxylative acylation of N-nitrosoanilines with α-oxocarboxylic acids

An efficient palladium-catalyzed electrooxidation C–H acylation reaction of N-nitrosoanilines with α-oxocarboxylic acids was developed. The anodic oxidation of the Pd(II) intermediate was found to be the key to complete the reaction. In this case, the N-nitroso group was observed to be an effective directing group for C–H activation reaction. Moreover, the synthetic transformation of derivatives of natural products (l-menthol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and pregnenolone) was successfully realized. Finally, flow electrochemical synthesis of some substrates was achieved.