Green electrochemistry-enabled one-pot synthesis of halogenated amides from readily available carboxylic acids

The direct use of carboxylic acids as acylating agents represents an attractive yet challenging goal in sustainable synthesis, particularly when subsequent functionalization is desired. Herein, we report a streamlined electrochemical acylation-halogenation one-pot protocol that converts readily available carboxylic acids into halogenated N-aryl amides via the in situ generation of reactive acyl halides. In this process, the carboxylic acid is first transformed into the corresponding acyl chloride or bromide, which subsequently undergoes amide bond formation followed by regioselective C-H halogenation under mild electrochemical conditions utilizing the released halide ion. The entire sequence proceeds in a single vessel without the need for supporting electrolyte or additional catalysts. This modular approach enables direct access to chloro- and bromo-substituted amides from simple carboxylic acid precursors, thereby providing a practical and resource-efficient alternative to conventional stepwise activation-functionalization strategies. Notably, the present method exhibits broad substrate scope and represents an innovative approach for integrating acyl activation with electrochemical late-stage C-H functionalization.