Selective synthesis of α-chloroepoxides by electroreductive cross-coupling of methyl trichloroacetate with aliphatic aldehydes using reactive metal anodes

It was found in this study that electroreductive cross-coupling of methyl trichloroacetate with aliphatic aldehydes using a reactive metal anode gave the corresponding α-chloroepoxides, useful synthetic intermediates, selectively in good yields. Furthermore, as a synthetic application to organic synthesis, these specific products were subjected to typical reduction with metal hydride reagents and condensation with o-phenylenediamine, showing that they have several interesting reactivities different from those of common epoxides.