Electrochemical selenium-catalyzed para-amination of N-aryloxyamides: access to polysubstituted aminophenols.

Aminophenols are a class of important compounds with various pharmacological activities such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, and antibacterial activities. Herein, we introduce a mild and efficient electrochemical selenium-catalyzed strategy to synthesize polysubstituted aminophenols. High atom efficiency and transition metal-free and oxidant-free conditions are the striking features of this protocol. By merging electrochemical and organoselenium-catalyzed processes, the intramolecular rearrangement of N-aryloxyamides produces para-amination products at room temperature in a simple undivided cell.