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Updated: Sep 18, 2025

Versatile CO2 Transformations into Complex Products: A One-pot Two-step Strategy
Published on: November 9, 2019
Iron-Catalyzed Reductive Carboxylation of Arenes with CO2 via Thianthrenium Salts
Shibiao Tang1, Senze Tao1, Ke Yang1
1State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Abstract:
C-C bond formation catalyzed by abundant and nontoxic iron has attracted increasing attention. Although much progress has been made, iron-catalyzed reductive coupling is still limited. In this work, the reductive carboxylation of aryl thianthrenium salts with CO2 catalyzed by iron is developed. This protocol is characterized by mild conditions and excellent functional group tolerance. Due to the nontoxicity of iron, this method can be applied for the late-stage C-H carboxylation of complex drug molecules to provide multiple carboxyl drugs. Preliminary mechanistic studies reveal that an Fe(0)-Fe(I)-Fe(II)-Fe(0) catalytic cycle may be involved in this reaction. This reaction expands the types of iron-catalyzed reactions, which may promote the application of iron catalysis in organic synthesis.
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