Facile and General Electrochemical Diselenylation of Terminal Alkynes

Difunctionalization of terminal alkynes is a cutting-edge method for producing trisubstituted alkenes. The methods employed, however, rely heavily on the use of organometallic species with harsh conditions or transition metal-catalyzed multicomponent radical-mediated transformations. Herein, we report an electrochemical diselenylation of terminal alkynes to afford trisubstituted alkenes in an antiselective fashion with 100% atom economy. Moreover, this method uses simple graphite as electrodes and MeCN as a solvent and does not require high temperatures, which affords trisubstituted alkenes with high regioselectivity. The success of the gram-scale reaction, great tolerance to multiple functional groups, and the functionalization of complex compounds all established the value of this green technology.