Electrochemical reactor dictates site selectivity in N-heteroarene carboxylations.

ABSTRACT: Pyridines and related N-heteroarenes are commonly found in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and other biologically active compounds^1,2. Site-selective C-H functionalization would provide a direct way of making these medicinally active products^3-5. For example, nicotinic acid derivatives could be made by C-H carboxylation, but this remains an elusive transformation^6-8. Here we describe the development of an electrochemical strategy for the direct carboxylation of pyridines using CO₂. The choice of the electrolysis setup gives rise to divergent site selectivity: a divided electrochemical cell leads to C5 carboxylation, whereas an undivided cell promotes C4 carboxylation. The undivided-cell reaction is proposed to operate through a paired-electrolysis

SUBMITTER: Sun GQ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10036166 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature