Electrooxidative α-hydroxymethylation of ketones with dimethylformamide as the carbon source

Abstract

An environmentally benign electrochemical approach has been developed for the α-hydroxymethylation of ketones using N,N-dimethylformamide as the carbon source for the construction of β-hydroxy ketones. This method does not require metal catalysts or chemical oxidants and proceeded smoothly at room temperature to demonstrate tolerance of a broad range of functional groups.