Electroreductive Intramolecular Coupling of Aromatic β- and γ-Imino Esters: A New Synthetic Method for <i>N</i>-Alkoxycarbonyl-2-aryl-3-ones and <i>cis</i>-2-Aryl-3-ols of Pyrrolidines and Piperidines
the resulting five- and six-membered cyclized amines gave mixed ketals of N-alkoxycarbonyl-2-arylpyrrolidin-3-ones and 2-arylpiperidin-3-ones, respectively. The best result of the electroreductive intramolecular coupling was achieved using Bu4NClO4 as a supporting electrolyte and a Pb cathode in THF. Acid hydrolysis of the mixed ketals afforded N-alkoxycarbonyl-2-arylpyrrolidin-3-ones and 2-arylpiperidin-3-ones