Abstract: | Indirect electrochemical oxidation of 1-N-subsituted piperidin-4-ones in methanol in an undivided cell in the presence of sodium iodide/sodium methoxide system leads to the corresponding α-hydroxyketals in 50-80% substance yield (50-65% current yield). 2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidin-4-one under the same conditions forms a mixture of methyl 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylate and methyl 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylate in 70% substance yield (60-70% current yield) via electrochemically induced Favorskii rearrangement. |