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Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Mild, visible light-mediated decarboxylation of aryl carboxylic acids to access aryl radicals
L Candish1, M Freitag1, T Gensch1
1Organisch-Chemisches Institut , Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster , Corrensstrasse 40 , 48149 , Münster , Germany .
Abstract:
Herein we present the first example of aryl radical formation via the visible light-mediated decarboxylation of aryl carboxylic acids using photoredox catalysis. This method constitutes a mild protocol for the decarboxylation of cheap and abundant aryl carboxylic acids and tolerates both electron-rich substrates and those lacking ortho-substitution. The in situ formation of an acyl hypobromite is proposed to prevent unproductive hydrogen atom abstraction and trapping of the intermediate aroyloxy radical, enabling mild decarboxylation.
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