Electroreductive Cross-Coupling of Cyclopropyl Ketones and Aryl Methyl Ketones to Access 1,2,4-Triarylbenzenes via Acid-Promoted Aromatization.

Herein, we report an electroreductive radical-radical cross-coupling between radical intermediates generated from the reduction of cyclopropyl ketones and the aryl methyl ketones, furnishing a δ-hydroxy ketone intermediate that undergoes acid-promoted aromatization to afford 1,2,4-triarylbenzenes. This telescopic two-step synthetic strategy obviates the need for external oxidants or reductants and provides a broad substrate scope with remarkable functional group tolerance. Additionally, the practicality of the designed strategy was evidenced by its scalability and further derivatization of the synthesized triarylbenzenes.