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Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Decarboxylative Alkyl Coupling Promoted by NADH and Blue Light
Rajdip Chowdhury1, Zhunzhun Yu1, My Linh Tong1
1Department of Organic Chemistry, Arrhenius laboratory, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm Sweden.
Abstract:
Photoexcited dihydronicotinamides like NADH and analogues have been found to generate alkyl radicals upon reductive decarboxylation of redox-active esters without auxiliary photocatalysts. This principle allowed aliphatic photocoupling between redox-active carboxylate derivatives and electron-poor olefins, displaying surprising water and air-tolerance and unusually high coupling rates in dilute conditions. The orthogonality of the reaction in the presence of other carboxylic acids and its utility in the functionalization of DNA is presented, notably using visible light in combination with NADH, the ubiquitous reductant of life.
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