Harnessing Applied Potential: Selective β-Hydrocarboxylation of Substituted Olefins.

The construction of carboxylic acid compounds in a selective fashion from low value materials such as alkenes remains a long-standing challenge to synthetic chemists. In particular, β-addition to styrenes is underdeveloped. Herein we report a new electrosynthetic approach to the selective hydrocarboxylation of alkenes that overcomes the limitations of current transition metal and photochemical approaches.