Electro-oxidation of hydroquinone and 2,3-dimethylhydroquinone in the presence of 1,3-indanedione, as a nucleophile, is studied in phosphate-ethanol buffer using voltammetric methods. The results obtained indicate that the oxidized form of p-benzoquinones participate in 1,4-Michael addition reactions with 1,3-indanedione via various electrochemical coupled chemical mechanisms for the electro-organic synthesis of new benzofurans in high yields, under mild conditions. The new products were characterized by spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analyses.
