Realizing Metal-Free Carbene-Catalyzed Carbonylation Reactions with CO

Many organic and main-group compounds, usually acids or bases, can accelerate chemical reactions when used in substoichiometric quantities, a process known as organocatalysis. In marked contrast, very few of these compounds are able to activate carbon monoxide, and until now, none of them could catalyze its chemical transformation, a classical task for transition metals. Herein we report that a stable singlet ambiphilic carbene activates CO and catalytically promotes the carbonylation of an o-quinone into a cyclic carbonate. These findings pave the way for the discovery of metal-free catalyzed carbonylation reactions.