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We report a Mn-catalyzed electrochemical dichlorination of alkenes with MgCl2 as the chlorine source. This method provides operationally simple, sustainable, and efficient access to a variety of vicinally dichlorinated compounds. In particular, alkenes with oxidatively labile functional groups, such as alcohols, aldehydes, sulfides, and amines, were transformed into the desired vicinal dichlorides with high chemoselectivity. Mechanistic data are consistent with metal-mediated Cl atom transfer as the predominant pathway enabling dual C-Cl bond formation and contradict an alternative pathway involving electrochemical evolution of chlorine gas followed by Cl2-mediated electrophilic dichlorination.
Fu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.