Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Carboxylation Reactions with Carbon Dioxide.

Driven by the inherent synthetic potential of CO2 as an abundant, inexpensive and renewable C1 chemical feedstock, the recent years have witnessed renewed interest in devising catalytic CO2 fixations into organic matter. Although the formation of C-C bonds via catalytic CO2 fixation remained rather limited for a long period of time, a close look into the recent literature data indicates that catalytic carboxylation reactions have entered a new era of exponential growth, evolving into a mature discipline that allows for streamlining the synthesis of carboxylic acids, building blocks of utmost relevance in industrial endeavors. These strategies have generally proven broadly applicability and convenient to perform. However, substantial challenges still need to be addressed reinforcing the need to cover metal-catalyzed carboxylation area in a conceptual and concise manner, delineating the underlying new principles that are slowly emerging in this vibrant area of expertise.

Site-Selective Catalytic Carboxylation of Unsaturated Hydrocarbons with CO2 and Water.

A catalytic protocol that reliably predicts and controls the site-selective incorporation of CO2 to a wide range of unsaturated hydrocarbons utilizing water as formal hydride source is described. This platform unlocks an opportunity to catalytically repurpose three abundant, orthogonal feedstocks under mild conditions.

Remote carboxylation of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons with carbon dioxide.

Catalytic carbon-carbon bond formation has enabled the streamlining of synthetic routes when assembling complex molecules. It is particularly important when incorporating saturated hydrocarbons, which are common motifs in petrochemicals and biologically relevant molecules. However, cross-coupling methods that involve alkyl electrophiles result in catalytic bond formation only at specific and previously functionalized sites. Here we describe a catalytic method that is capable of promoting carboxylation reactions at remote and unfunctionalized aliphatic sites with carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure. The reaction occurs via selective migration of the catalyst along the hydrocarbon side-chain with excellent regio- and chemoselectivity, representing a remarkable reactivity relay when compared with classical cross-coupling reactions. Our results demonstrate that site-selectivity can be switched and controlled, enabling the functionalization of less-reactive positions in the presence of a priori more reactive ones. Furthermore, we show that raw materials obtained in bulk from petroleum processing, such as alkanes and unrefined mixtures of olefins, can be used as substrates. This offers an opportunity to integrate a catalytic platform en route to valuable fatty acids by transforming petroleum-derived feedstocks directly.

Metal-Catalyzed Carboxylation of Organic (Pseudo)halides with CO2.

The recent years have witnessed the development of metal-catalyzed reductive carboxylation of organic (pseudo)halides with CO2 as C1 source, representing potential powerful alternatives to existing methodologies for preparing carboxylic acids, privileged motifs in a myriad of pharmaceuticals and molecules displaying significant biological properties. While originally visualized as exotic cross-coupling reactions, a close look into the literature data indicates that these processes have become a fertile ground, allowing for the utilization of a variety of coupling partners, even with particularly challenging substrate combinations. As for other related cross-electrophile scenarios, the vast majority of reductive carboxylation of organic (pseudo)halides are characterized by their simplicity, mild conditions, and a broad functional group compatibility, suggesting that these processes could be implemented in late-stage diversification. This perspective describes the evolution of metal-catalyzed reductive carboxylation of organic (pseudo)halides from its inception in the pioneering stoichiometric work of Osakada to the present. Specific emphasis is devoted to the reactivity of these coupling processes, with substrates ranging from aryl-, vinyl-, benzyl- to unactivated alkyl (pseudo)halides. Despite the impressive advances realized, a comprehensive study detailing the mechanistic intricacies of these processes is still lacking. Some recent empirical evidence reveal an intriguing dichotomy exerted by the substitution pattern on the ligands utilized; still, however, some elementary steps within the catalytic cycle of these reactions remain speculative, in many instances invoking a canonical cross-coupling process. Although tentative, we anticipate that these processes might fall into more than one distinct mechanistic category depending on the substrate utilized, suggesting that investigations aimed at unraveling the mechanistic underpinnings of these processes will likely bring new and innovative research grounds in this vibrant area of expertise.

Sigmatropic Rearrangement of Vinyl Aziridines: Expedient Synthesis of Cyclic Sulfoximines from Chiral Sulfinimines.

A novel rearrangement of 2-vinyl aziridine 2-carboxylates to unusual chiral cyclic sulfoximines is described herein. The method allows the synthesis of substituted cyclic sulfoximines in high yields with complete stereocontrol, and tolerates a wide substrate scope. A one-pot process starting directly from sulfinimines provides access to complex chiral sulfoximines in only two steps from commercially available aldehydes. A mechanistic hypothesis and synthetic application in the formal synthesis of trachelanthamidine, by transformation of a cyclic sulfoximine into a pyrroline, is also disclosed.

Ni-Catalyzed Carboxylation of Unactivated Alkyl Chlorides with CO2.

A catalytic carboxylation of unactivated primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl chlorides with CO2 at atmospheric pressure is described. This protocol represents the first intermolecular cross-electrophile coupling of unactivated alkyl chlorides, thus leading to new knowledge in the cross-coupling arena.

Nickel-Catalyzed Carboxylation of Benzylic C-N Bonds with CO2.

A user-friendly Ni-catalyzed reductive carboxylation of benzylic C-N bonds with CO2 is described. This procedure outperforms state-of-the-art techniques for the carboxylation of benzyl electrophiles by avoiding commonly observed parasitic pathways, such as homodimerization or ß-hydride elimination, thus leading to new knowledge in cross-electrophile reactions.

Ligand-controlled regiodivergent Ni-catalyzed reductive carboxylation of allyl esters with CO2.

A novel Ni-catalyzed regiodivergent reductive carboxylation of allyl esters with CO2 has been developed. This mild, user-friendly, and operationally simple method is characterized by an exquisite selectivity profile that is dictated by the ligand backbone.

Asymmetric synthesis of trisubstituted aziridines via aza-Darzens reaction of chiral sulfinimines.

The aza-Darzens reaction of substituted 2-bromoesters with chiral tert-butane- and mesitylsulfinimines provides a rapid access to a range of highly substituted aziridines in good yields and excellent levels of stereoselectivity. The synthetic potential of this protocol is further enhanced by the successful removal of the sulfinyl motif, yielding simple access to chiral N-H aziridines in just three steps from commercial aldehyde precursors.

Metal-catalyzed reductive coupling reactions of organic halides with carbonyl-type compounds.

Metal-catalyzed reductive coupling reactions of aryl halides and (pseudo)halides with carbonyl-type compounds have undergone an impressive development within the last years. These methodologies have shown to be a powerful alternate strategy, practicality aside, to the use of stoichiometric, well-defined, and, in some cases, air-sensitive organometallic species. In this Minireview, the recent findings in this field are summarized, with particular emphasis on the mechanistic interpretation of the results and future aspects of this area of expertise.