Electrochemically promoted diamidation of alkenes to dihydroimidazole skeleton

Abstract

The dihydroimidazole framework is a valuable heterocyclic compound widely found in natural products, ligands, molecular catalysts, pesticides, etc. The construction of a dihydroimidazole framework from alkenes is an attractive synthesis approach. Herein, we report a simple and environmentally friendly electrocatalytic diamination reaction of alkenes. The reaction involves constructing a dihydroimidazole framework from readily available alkenes, CH₃CN, and H₂O. CH₃CN serves as a solvent and a nitrogen source, whereas H₂O provides an oxygen source without the need for catalysts and oxidants. The synthesized 3,4-dihydroimidazole compound can be further hydrolyzed into vicinal diamines. As far as we know, the synthesis of dihydroimidazole frameworks through electrochemical Ritter-type diamination of alkenes has not been reported yet.