With the optimized reaction conditions in hand (
Table 1, entry 1), the scope of the electrochemical [2 + 2 + 1] annulation was investigated. As shown in
Scheme 2, the present electrochemical reaction was appropriate for a multitude of
N-arylglycines. No matter whether the phenyl ring of
N-phenylglycines was modified with either sterically hindered, electron-rich or electron-poor group, all of them gave the corresponding products (
4aa-
4an) in good to excellent yields. Many valuable functional-groups, such as alkyl (-Me, -
iPr and -
tBu), alkoxy (-OMe and -OCF
3), methylthio (-SMe), trifluomethylthio (-SCF
3) and halogen (F, Cl, Br and I) were introduced into the terminal products, proving the excellent functional group tolerance of this reaction. (3,4-Dimethylphenyl)glycine can also be used as the substrate, furnishing the annulation product
4ao in 84% yield. Importantly,
N-functionalized glycine substrates with naphthalene (
4ap) or heterocyclic ring (
4aq and
4ar) were also compatible in the annulation system. No reaction occurred when pyridin-4-ylglycine or furan-3-ylglycine was used as the aminomethyl source. Electron-rich (
4ba and
4ca) group-substituted as well as the electron-poor group-substituted benzo[
d]isothiazole 1,1-dioxides (
4da) delivered the annulation products in 82%−85% yields. Furthermore, when a regioisomeric mixture of
1e and
1e' was used, the corresponding products
4ea and
4ea' were formed as a mixture of regioisomeric with the same ratio.