Electrocatalytic Generation of Amidyl Radicals for Olefin Hydroamidation: Use of Solvent Effects to Enable Anilide Oxidation

Oxidative generation of synthetically important amidyl radicals from N−H amides is an appealing and yet challenging task. Previous methods require a stoichiometric amount of a strong oxidant and/or a costly noble‐metal catalyst. We report herein the first electrocatalytic method that employs ferrocene (Fc), a cheap organometallic reagent, as the redox catalyst to produce amidyl radicals from N‐aryl amides. Based on this radical‐generating method, an efficient intramolecular olefin hydroamidation reaction has been developed.