Arylated products are found in various fields of chemistry and represent essential entities for many applications. Therefore, the formation of this structural feature represents a central issue of contemporary organic synthesis. By the action of electricity the necessity of leaving groups, metal catalysts, stoichiometric oxidizers, or reducing agents can be omitted in part or even completely. The replacement of conventional reagents by sustainable electricity not only will be environmentally benign but also allows significant short cuts in electrochemical synthesis. In addition, this methodology can be considered as inherently safe. The current survey is organized in cathodic and anodic conversions as well as by the number of leaving groups being involved. In some electroconversions the reagents used are regenerated at the electrode, whereas in other electrotransformations free radical sequences are exploited to afford a highly sustainable process. The electrochemical formation of the aryl-substrate bond is discussed for aromatic substrates, heterocycles, other multiple bond systems, and even at saturated carbon substrates. This survey covers most of the seminal work and the advances of the past two decades in this area.

A fully regio- and diastereoselective electrochemical 4a–2′-coupling of a 3′,4′,5′-trioxygenated laudanosine derivative enables the synthesis of the corresponding morphinandienone. This key intermediate is further transformed into (−)-oxycodone through conjugate nucleophilic substitution for E-ring closure and [4 + 2] cycloaddition with photogenerated singlet oxygen to accomplish diastereoselective hydroxylation at C-14. The anodic transformation provides high yields and can be performed under constant current conditions both in a simple undivided cell or in continuous flow.

The most efficient electrochemical synthesis of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-2,2′-biphenol by dehydrogenative coupling is reported. The electrolysis is performed supporting-electrolyte-free in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol and at carbon electrodes, whereby glassy carbon electrodes turned out to be superior. To provide sufficient conductivity, pyridine is added, and it can easily be recovered by evaporation and reused. This facilitates the downstream process tremendously, making it simple, economical, and technically viable. The scalability was proven by establishing a flow electrolysis in differently sized narrow-gap flow electrolyzers. Carrying out a multistep cascade electrolysis enabled the challenging hydrogen evolution to be successfully addressed. The scaled-up electrolysis provided an isolated yield of 59% biphenol.

The power you're supplying: With the application of an optimized electrochemical approach, the allylic oxidation of olefins, which is an important C-H activation process that provides access to enones, becomes a sustainable, versatile, and potent key reaction for organic synthesis.