Dinitrogen Functionalization with Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Disulfide Giving Symmetric and Unsymmetric Hydrazido Complexes

Here we show that a tridentate bis(aryloxide)anilide-ligated titanium/potassium scaffold promotes functionalization of coordinated N₂ with CO₂ and CS₂ through formation of N−C bonds. Treatment of a naphthalene complex with N₂ gave an end-on bridging dinitrogen complex featuring a [Ti₂K₂N₂] core. The dinitrogen complex underwent insertion of CO₂ into each Ti−NN bond to afford an N,N′-dicarboxylated hydrazido complex. Stepwise nitrogen-carbon bond formation at coordinated N₂ proceeded to afford an unsymmetric hydrazido complex upon sequentially treating the dinitrogen complex with CS₂ and CO₂. Addition of Me₃SiCl to the dicarboxylated hydrazido complex resulted in partial silylation of the carboxylate groups but did not lead to removal of the functionalized N₂ unit from the metal centers. However, reduction of the dicarboxylated hydrazido complex with potassium naphthalenide afforded an oxo-bridged dinuclear complex along with release of free potassium cyanate.     

Carboxylation of Acetylene without Salt Waste: Green Synthesis of C4 Chemicals Enabled by a CO2-Pressure Induced Acidity Switch

The inherent formation of salt waste in C−H carboxylations is a key obstacle precluding the utilization of CO₂ as C₁ building block in the industrial synthesis of base chemicals. This challenge is addressed in a circular process for the production of the C₄ base chemical dimethyl succinate from CO₂ and acetylene. At moderate CO₂ pressures, acetylene is doubly carboxylated in the presence of cesium carbonate. Hydrogenation of the C−C triple bond stabilizes the product against decarboxylation. By increasing the CO₂ pressure to 70 bar, the medium is reversibly acidified, allowing an esterification of the succinate salt with methanol. The cesium base and the hydrogenation catalyst are regenerated and can be reused. This provides the proof of concept for a salt-free route to C₄ chemicals from biogas (CH₄/CO₂). The origin of this reversible acidity switch and the critical roles of the cesium base and the NMP/MeOH solvents were elucidated by thermodynamic modeling.     

Electrochemical Reactors Enable Divergent Site Selectivity in the C−H Carboxylation of N-Heteroarenes

Catalytic and switchable C−H functionalization of N-heteroarenes under easily tunable conditions is a robust but challenging tool for the construction of biologically relevant compounds. Recently, a general electrochemical strategy has been developed for the direct C−H carboxylation of N-heteroarenes with CO₂, and by simply choosing different types of cell setups, carboxylated products are furnished with excellent and tunable site selectivity. This study also paves the way for regulating the reactivity modes in electrochemical synthesis.     

Photocatalytic Carboxylation of C−N Bonds in Cyclic Amines with CO2 by Consecutive Visible-Light-Induced Electron Transfer

Visible-light photocatalytic carboxylation with CO₂ is highly important. However, it still remains challenging for reluctant substrates with low reduction potentials. Herein, we report a novel photocatalytic carboxylation of C−N bonds in cyclic amines with CO₂ via consecutive photo-induced electron transfer (ConPET). It is also the first photocatalytic reductive ring-opening reaction of azetidines, pyrrolidines and piperidines. This strategy is practical to transform a variety of easily available cyclic amines to valuable β-, γ-, δ- and ϵ-amino acids in moderate-to-excellent yields. Moreover, the method also features mild and transition-metal-free conditions, high selectivity, good functional-group tolerance, facile scalability and product derivations. Mechanistic studies indicate that the ConPET might be the key to generating highly reactive photocatalysts, which enable the reductive activation of cyclic amines to generate carbon radicals and carbanions as the key intermediates.