Enantioselective Ni-Catalyzed Electrochemical Synthesis of Biaryl Atropisomers

A scalable enantioselective nickel-catalyzed electrochemical reductive homocoupling of aryl bromides has been developed, affording enantioenriched axially chiral biaryls in good yield under mild conditions using electricity as a reductant in an undivided cell. Common metal reductants such as Mn or Zn powder resulted in significantly lower yields in the absence of electric current under otherwise identical conditions, underscoring the enhanced reactivity provided by the combination of transition metal catalysis and electrochemistry.