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The aromatization mechanisms of ligustilide (1), a versatile monomeric phthalide, were investigated. DFT calculations combined with control experiments prove that the aromatization could result from direct oxidation by triplet oxygen in mild conditions with no catalyst, which is generally thought to be difficult. Moreover, it is predicted that the aromatization could rapidly clear away the harmful-to-organism singlet oxygen, which may be relevant to the general antioxidation activity of phthalides, providing a new point of view to understand the bioactivity from chemical reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative generation of synthetically important amidyl radicals from N−H amides is an appealing and yet challenging task. Previous methods require a stoichiometric amount of a strong oxidant and/or a costly noble-metal catalyst. We report herein the first electrocatalytic method that employs ferrocene (Fc), a cheap organometallic reagent, as the redox catalyst to produce amidyl radicals from N-aryl amides. Based on this radical-generating method, an efficient intramolecular olefin hydroamidation reaction has been developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]