Electrochemical Dialkoxylation of Diaryl Acetylenes for the Selective Synthesis of (E)-α,β-Dialkoxy-stilbenes without Catalyst and Oxidant

A novel electrochemical dialkoxylation of diaryl acetylenes for the selective synthesis of (E)-α,β-dialkoxy-stilbenes was developed in which no catalyst or oxidant was used. This is the first example of electrochemical difunctionalization of diaryl acetylenes for the synthesis of chain-type alkenes. The stereoselectivity and chemoselectivity were good. Only the E isomer was obtained and no cyclic product was detected when using diols as substrates.