Electrochemical dimerization of 2-acetylthiophene

1.	The yield of 2,3-di-(2-thienyl)-2,3-butanediol which is formed upon electroreduction of 2-acetylthiophene in DMF solution depends on the composition of the background electrolyte; the yield is at its maximum when the electrolysis is carried out in the presence of lithium salt.
2.	Products resulting from subsequent reactions of non-pinacol-type dimeric dianions upon electrolysis of 2-acetylthiophene under an Ar atmosphere or CO2 were also isolated and characterized.

Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1121–1125, May, 1988.