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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Ni-Catalyzed Electrochemical Decarboxylative C-C Couplings in Batch and Continuous Flow
Hui Li1, Christopher P Breen1,2, Hyowon Seo2
1Snapdragon Chemistry Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140, United States.
Abstract:
An electrochemically driven, nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling of N-hydroxyphthalimide esters with aryl halides is reported. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions in a divided electrochemical cell and employs a tertiary amine as the reductant. This decarboxylative C(sp3)-C(sp2) bond-forming transformation exhibits excellent substrate generality and functional group compatibility. An operationally simple continuous-flow version of this transformation using a commercial electrochemical flow reactor represents a robust and scalable synthesis of value added coupling process.
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