Anodically Coupled Electrolysis for the Heterodifunctionalization of Alkenes

The emergence of new catalytic strategies that cleverly adopt concepts and techniques frequently used in areas such as photochemistry and electrochemistry has yielded a myriad of new organic reactions that would be challenging to achieve using orthodox methods. Herein, we discuss the strategic use of anodically coupled electrolysis, an electrochemical process that combines two parallel oxidative events, as a complementary approach to existing methods for redox organic transformations. Specifically, we demonstrate anodically coupled electrolysis in the regio- and chemoselective chlorotrifluoromethylation of alkenes.