Electroreductive Cross-Coupling of Cyclopropyl Ketones and Aryl Methyl Ketones to Access 1,2,4-Triarylbenzenes via Acid-Promoted Aromatization

Herein, we report an electroreductive radical–radical
cross-coupling
between radical intermediates generated from the reduction of cyclopropyl
ketones and the aryl methyl ketones, furnishing a δ-hydroxy ketone intermediate that undergoes acid-promoted aromatization
to afford 1,2,4-triarylbenzenes. This telescopic two-step synthetic
strategy obviates the need for external oxidants or reductants and
provides a broad substrate scope with remarkable functional group
tolerance. Additionally, the practicality of the designed strategy
was evidenced by its scalability and further derivatization of the
synthesized triarylbenzenes.