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Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Nickel-catalyzed reductive decarboxylation of fatty acids for drop-in biofuel production
Maria do S B da Silva1, Jhudson G L de Araujo1, Júlia C C V Bento1
1Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Institute of Chemistry 59072-970 Natal RN Brazil livia.cavalcanti@ufrn.br.
Abstract:
An operationally simple and highly selective method for the decarboxylation of fatty acids under remarkably mild conditions is described herein. The activation of the aliphatic carboxylic acids by esterification with N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) enabled efficient deoxygenation to synthesize n-alkanes in up to 67% yield, employing inexpensive PMHS as a hydrogen source, NiCl2·6H2O, bipyridine, and zinc in THF. In contrast to the conventional thermo-catalytic approaches, this protocol does not require high temperature and high pressure of hydrogen gas to deoxygenate biomass-derived carboxylic acids, thus representing an attractive alternative for producing drop-in biofuels.
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