Metal- and Additive-Free Electrochemical Oxidation of Benzylic C-X Bonds to Carbonyl Groups

A scalable electrochemical strategy for oxidation of various benzylic C-X bonds to carbonyl groups was achieved. The protocol runs under mild reaction conditions and air atmosphere in a simple undivided electrolysis cell, H2O as oxygen source, and cheap graphite plates as both anode and cathode. In addition, the electrolysis strategy features good functional groups tolerance for selectively generating structure versatile ketones, aldehydes, and esters.