Electrochemically Oxidative α-C-H Functionalization of Ketones: A Cascade Synthesis of α-Amino Ketones Mediated by NH4I

An efficient electrochemical protocol for the synthesis of alpha-amino ketones via the oxidative cross-dehydrogenative coupling of ketones and secondary amines has been developed. The electrochemistry performs in a simple undivided cell using NH4I as a redox catalyst and a cheap graphite plate as electrodes under constant current conditions. Gram-scale reaction demonstrates the practicality of the protocol. The reaction is proposed to procced through an initial a-iodination of ketone, followed by a nucleophilic substitution of amines.