The present invention involves use of electrolytic desulfurization procedures to prepare orthoalkyl acetanilides. Various chloro-acetanilides, including those with orthoalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substituents, are known to be useful as herbicides or intermediates therefor. The present invention is concerned with preparation of particular types of compounds which are particularly useful and valuable as intermediates in preparation of herbicides, as further described herein with reference to patents of others, and to commonly assigned patent applications of one or more of the present applicants or their associates. Similarly, the sources of reactants are described with reference to published patents and commonly assigned applications. A number of publications have concerned the electrolytic cleavage of sulfide, sulfoxide or sulfone compounds. See L. Horner and N. Neuman, Chem. Ber, 1975, 98 1715; and various other publications cited in commonly assigned copending application of the present applicants and others, Ser. No. 358,771, filed Mar. 17, 1982 U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,069. The stated copending application concerns electrolytic desulfurization of the requisite sulfide, sulfoxide or sulfone compounds to prepare compounds such as 2-methyl-6-trifluorothylaniline. Electrolytic processes for reduction of some described sulfonium compounds are known such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,257 which describes processes at a mercury cathode for converting -methylbenzyl sulfonium salts to -methylbenzyl dimers, with very negative cathode settings and low reduction rates favoring formation of ethylbenzene at the expense of the dimers. Other publications describe electrolytic reductions of sulfonium salts producing sulfides and a radical R.sup.. which can take part in various further reactions. However, such prior published materials are not concerned with reactions of the sulfonium compounds with acetanilide moieties of the type involved herein, or their preparation and advantageous use in the present invention. The present electrolysis is concerned with production of monomeric products, i.e. monomeric chloroacetanilides and other N-acyl anilides.