Electrochemical C H carboxylation of benzylamines
Wei-Mei Zeng, Youai Qiu
Abstract
In this study, electrochemical C H carboxylation of benzylamines with CO 2 was reported. This linear paired electrolysis system enables efficient and economical synthesis of value-added α -amino acids ( α -AAs) under mild conditions. Various substituted benzylamines containing diverse functional groups and even highly reactive moieties, such as cyano, amide and alkene groups could be successfully transformed to the carboxylated products. Notably, this method proved to be applicable to the late-stage modification of biorelevant compounds, highlighting its potential for synthetic chemistry. Mechanistic studies such as radical trapping experiments, kinetic isotope effect (KIE) tests and cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies provided useful insight into this transformation. This study presents an efficient electrochemical strategy for the C H carboxylation of benzylamines using CO₂ as a sustainable carbonyl source. A broad range of functionalized benzylamines, including those bearing highly reactive moieties, were successfully converted to the corresponding carboxylated products under mild reaction conditions.