The nickel-catalyzed direct carboxylation of alkenes with the cheap and abundantly available C1 building block carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the presence of a base has been achieved. The one-pot reaction allows for the direct and selective synthesis of a wide range of α,β-unsaturated carboxylates (TON>100, TOF up to 6 h(-1) , TON=turnover number, TOF=turnover frequency). Thus, it is possible, in one step, to synthesize sodium acrylate from ethylene, CO2 , and a sodium salt. Acrylates are industrially important products, the synthesis of which has hitherto required multiple steps.

We report the first catalyst based on palladium for the reaction of CO2, alkene and a base to form sodium acrylate and derivatives. A mechanism similar to a previously reported Ni(0)-catalyst is proposed based on stoichiometric in situ NMR experiments, isolated intermediates and a parent palladalactone. Our palladium catalyst was applied to the coupling of CO2 with conjugated alkenes.

The direct access to dimethoxymethane (DMM) from CO2/H2 in MeOH is an attractive approach, but more active, selective and robust catalyst systems are still desirable for an application of this...

The reaction of [Na2(thf)4(P4Mes4)] (1) with tributyltin chloride gives 1,2,3,4-tetramesityl-1,4-bis(tri-n-butyltin)tetraphosphane (2) which is stable towards disproportionation in solution at room temperature.