Photocatalytic reductive incorporation of carbon dioxide into double bonds

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a challenging molecule to incorporate into olefins due to its inherent inert properties. Silanes have now been shown to rapidly react selectively with CO₂, catalysed by the presence of a caesium base, to form formate salts which can undergo a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) to give the desired CO₂˙⁻ adducts in the presence of activated olefins.