Electrochemical Ruthenium-Catalyzed C-H Hydroxylation of Amine Derivatives in Aqueous Acid.

The development of an electrochemically driven, ruthenium-catalyzed C-H hydroxylation reaction of amine-derived substrates bearing tertiary C-H bonds is described. The reaction is performed under constant current electrolysis in a divided cell to afford alcohol products in yields comparable to those of our previously reported process, which requires the use of stoichiometric H5IO6 for catalytic turnover. With aqueous acid as solvent, the cathodic electrode reaction simply involves the reduction of protons to evolve hydrogen gas. The optimized protocol offers a convenient, efficient, and atom-economical method for sp3-C-H bond oxidation.