Electrochemical-Induced Cascade Reaction of 2-Formyl Benzonitrile with Anilines: Synthesis of -Aryl Isoindolinones.

An electrochemical initiated tandem reaction of anilines with 2-formyl benzonitrile has been developed. Thus, unprecedented 3--aryl substituted isoindolinones have been conveniently achieved by constant current electrolysis in a divided cell using catalytic amount of electricity and supporting electrolyte and a Pt-cathode as working electrode. The origin of the electrochemical activation as well as the mechanism of the subsequent chemical cascade reactions have been investigated by DFT calculations.