Electrochemical Synthesis of Cyanoformamides from Trichloroacetonitrile and Secondary Amines Mediated by the B12 Derivative

The B-12 derivative, heptamethyl cobyrinate,-mediated electrochemical synthesis of cyanoformamides has been developed. Aerobic oxygenation of the carbon-centered radical initiated in situ generation of the reactive acyl chloride intermediate, which led to cyanoformamides in the presence of an amine. This one-pot and scalable synthetic method has been demonstrated with 41 examples up to 94% yields with 21 new compounds. The mechanism of electrolysis mediated by the B-12 derivative has been proposed based on the DFT calculations.

Automated summary

A new synthetic method mediated by a B-12 derivative has been developed, which involves aerobic oxygenation to initiate the generation of a carbon-centered radical for the reactive acyl chloride intermediate and subsequent production of cyanoformamides. This method has shown high yields and scalability, with a proposed mechanism based on DFT calculations.