Cyclic voltammetry reveals that, at a glassy carbon cathode in dimethylformamide-containing tetramethylammonium tetrafluoroborate, cobalt͑II͒ salen or cobalt͑II͒ salophen undergoes a reversible one-electron reduction to the corresponding cobalt͑I͒ species. When 2-acetylphenyl 2-chloroacetate ͑1͒ or 2-acetylphenyl 2,2-dichloroacetate ͑2͒ is added to a solution containing either of the cobalt͑II͒ complexes, a cyclic voltammogram shows an enhancement in the cathodic current and a disappearance of the anodic current for the cobalt͑II͒-cobalt͑I͒ redox couple, which can be attributed to the catalytic reduction of 1 or 2 at a potential significantly more positive than those required for direct reduction of these substrates. Controlled-potential ͑bulk͒ catalytic reduction of 1 or 2 by either cobalt͑I͒ species electrogenerated at a reticulated vitreous carbon cathode leads to the formation of 4-methylcoumarin, along with 2Ј-hydroxyacetophenone, 2-methylbenzofuran, and 3,4-dihydrobenzo͓b͔oxepine-2,5-dione. A mechanistic scheme is proposed to account for the electrocatalytic synthesis of 4-methylcoumarin and the various side products.Coumarin and its numerous derivatives are employed extensively in biology, medicine, polymer science, and industry. 1 However, despite the prevalence and importance of these compounds, only two publications 2,3 pertaining to the electrosynthesis of coumarins have appeared. As revealed in the first of these papers, direct electrochemical reduction of 2-acetylphenyl 2,2,2-trichloroacetate at a mercury cathode in acetonitrile containing lithium perchlorate results in the formation of 3-chloro-4-methylcoumarin in 33% yield, whereas a mixture of 3-chloro-4-methylcoumarin ͑56%͒ and 4-methylcoumarin ͑19%͒ is obtained from 2-acetylphenyl 2,2-dichloroacetate. 2 Many electrochemical studies of the reduction of coumarins have been reported. In the areas of polarography, cyclic voltammetry, and differential pulse voltammetry are investigations of the behavior of alkyl-substituted 3-phenyl-4-hydroxycoumarins, 4 coumarin itself, 5-8 carboxylic acid and ester derivatives of coumarin, 9 4-hydroxy-3-formylcoumarins, 10 7-hydroxycoumarin, 11,12 and coumarin-bearing polymers. 13 Reports involving preparative-scale ͑bulk͒ electrolyses of coumarin derivatives have focused on the reduction of coumarin, 4-methylcoumarin, and 5-methoxy-4-methylcoumarin in the presence of tertiary amines; 14,15 reduction of 3-nitrocoumarin derivatives; 16 oxidation of 4-hydroxycoumarins; 17 electrocyclization of 4-azidocoumarins; 18 alkaloid-catalyzed enantioselective reduction of 4-methylcoumarin; 19,20 reduction of 7-acetoxy-4-͑bromomethyl͒ coumarin; 21,22 reduction of 3-͓͑4Ј-methylphenyl͒azo͔-8-aldehydo-4-methylcoumarin; 23 reduction of 3-͓͑4Ј-sulfonamoylazo͒-7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin; 24 and reduction of 7-acetoxy-4-methylcoumarin. 22