Selective electrocatalytic oxidation of N-alkyl-N-methylanilines to N-alkylformanilides using nitroxyl radical.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of N-alkyl-N-methylanilines was studied using 4-benzoyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinyl-N-oxyl as a nitroxyl radical. The reaction with N-alkyl-N-methylanilines led to direct formation of N-alkylformanilides in the presence of H2O in reaction media in adequate conversion (>75.8%), high current efficiency (>89.2%) and high selectivity (>93.8%).