The preparation of difluoromethylated indoles via electrochemical oxidation under catalyst- and oxidant-free conditions.

A green and efficient electrochemical method for the preparation of difluoromethylated indoles has been developed. In this work, sodium difluoromethanesulfinate (HCF2SO2Na) was used as the fluorinating reagent, and various indole derivatives with difluoromethylation at the C-2 position were obtained in moderate to good yields under catalyst- and oxidant-free conditions. Moreover, this C-2 difluoromethylation protocol is operationally simple, proceeds at room temperature, and can be easily scaled up. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and control experiments indicated that this transformation may proceed via a radical pathway.