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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis from Benzimidazolium Salts and Catalytic Activity in Carbon-carbon Bond-forming Reactions
Published on: July 30, 2017
Palladium-Catalyzed C-H Bond Acetoxylation via Electrochemical Oxidation
Anuska Shrestha1, Melissa Lee1, Anna L Dunn1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan , 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
Abstract:
Here we describe the development of a method for the Pd-catalyzed electrochemical acetoxylation of C-H bonds. The oxidation step of the catalytic cycle is probed through cyclic voltammetry and bulk electrolysis studies of a preformed palladacycle of 8-methylquinoline. A catalytic system for C-H acetoxylation is then developed and optimized with respect to the cell configuration, rate of oxidation, and chemistry at the counter electrode. This transformation is then applied to substrates containing various directing groups and to the acetoxylation of both C(sp2)-H and C(sp3)-H bonds.
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