Electrochemical reductive acylation of the carotenoid canthaxanthin
Abstract
The in situ acylation of nucleophiles generated cathodically from canthaxanthin (1) provides a novel and convenient route to the retro-diacetate (2) and the corresponding retro-monoacetate (3); these are hydrolysed to respectively, 5,5′-dihydrocanthaxanthin (8) and 7,7′-dihydrocanthaxanthin (4).