Electrochemical Oxidation of Benzylic C(sp3)–H Bonds Presents a Versatile Metal-Free Approach for the Synthesis of Enones

An electrochemical approach has been developed for synthesizing enones with various functional groups through the electrooxidation of benzylic substrates in an aqueous solution containing a methyl ketone. This method eliminates the necessity for hazardous metal catalysts and external oxidants. It demonstrates impressive chemical yields ranging from 68% to 80%, is scalable for gram-scale production, and achieves Coulombic yields between 10% and 15%.