Electrochemical Annulation of <i>p</i>-Alkoxy or <i>p</i>-Hydroxy Anilines with Enaminones for Selective Indole and Benzofuran Synthesis

The green and sustainable electrochemical oxidative cyclization of enaminones with <i>p</i>-methoxy/<i>p</i>-hydroxy anilines has been developed, enabling the regioselective synthesis of indoles and benzofurans. The methods are of significant advantage not only due to the mild and metal-free sustainable electrochemical conditions, but also because of the employment of easily available and stable aniline substrates to replace the unstable quinoneimide for a similar annulation in previous work.