CO₂ as a C₁-organic building block: Enantioselective electrocarboxylation of aromatic ketones with CO₂catalyzed by cinchona alkaloids under mild conditions

The enantioselective electrocarboxylation of pro-chiral aromatic ketones (2-acetonaphthone, 1-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)ethanone, 1-(4-methoxy-1-naphthyl) ethanone) with atmospheric pressure of CO₂ catalyzed by cinchona alkaloids in the presence of phenol was investigated in an undivided cell for the first time to give optically active 2-hydroxy-2-arylpropionic acid. For the model compound 2-acetonaphthone, the influence of various reaction conditions, such as cathode material, current density, catalyst type, ratio of proton to catalyst and catalyst quantity, on the enantiomeric excesses (ee) and yield has been investigated. Under the optimized conditions of 2-acetonaphthone, all the aromatic ketones examined are converted into corresponding optically active 2-hydroxy-2-arylpropionic acids in moderate yield (32.2% - 41.3%) and ee (48.1% - 48.6%). In addition, the electrochemical behavior of 2-acetonaphthone has been studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in the absence and presence of CO ₂. Moreover, the probable reaction pathway was proposed accordingly.