Electrochemical Oxidative C-H Amination of Phenols: Access to Triarylamine Derivatives

Dehydrogenative C-H/N-H cross-coupling serves as one of the most straightforward and atom-economical approaches for C-N bond formation. In this work, an electrochemical reaction protocol has been developed for the oxidative C-H amination of unprotected phenols under undivided electrolytic conditions. Neither metal catalysts nor chemical oxidants are needed to facilitate the dehydrogenation process. A series of triarylamine derivatives could be obtained with good functional-group tolerance. The electrolysis is scalable and can be performed at ambient conditions.