Electroreductive coupling of 2-acylbenzoates with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds: density functional theory study on product selectivity

The electroreductive coupling of 2-acylbenzoates with acrylonitrile in the presence of TMSCl and successive treatment with 1 M HCl gave 2-cyanonaphthalen-1-ols or 3-(3-cyanoethyl)phthalides.  On the other hand, the reaction of 2-acylbenzoates with methyl vinyl ketone under the same conditions produced 3-(3-oxobutyl)phthalides as the sole products.  What determines the product selectivity was studied using the DFT calculations.