Tunable Electrochemical C−N versus N−N Bond Formation of Nitrogen‐Centered Radicals Enabled by Dehydrogenative Dearomatization: Biological Applications

Abstract Herein, an environmentally friendly electrochemical approach is reported that takes advantage of the captodative effect and delocalization effect to generate nitrogen‐centered radicals (NCRs). By changing the reaction parameters of the electrode material and feedstock solubility, dearomatization enabled a selective dehydrogenative C−N versus N−N bond formation reaction. Hence, pyrido[1,2‐ a ]benzimidazole and tetraarylhydrazine frameworks were prepared through a sustainable transition‐metal‐ and exogenous oxidant‐free strategy with broad generality. Bioactivity assays demonstrated that pyrido[1,2‐ a ]benzimidazoles displayed antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity against human cancer cells. Compound 21 exhibited good photochemical properties with a large Stokes shift (approximately 130 nm) and was successfully applied to subcellular imaging. A preliminary mechanism investigation and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed the possible reaction pathway.