Selective Electrosynthetic Hydrocarboxylation of a,bUnsaturated Olefins with Carbon Dioxide

Electrosynthetic hydrocarboxylation of alpha,beta-unsaturated olefins with excellent regioselectivity is reported. No sacrificial electrode is required and is thus amenable to a flow configuration. The products are purified by simple crystallisation. Synthesis of a precursor to ethosuximide, which contains an all-carbon quaternary centre, illustrates the potential of the process. Finally a robustness study has benchmarked the process for future users.