Using carbon dioxide as a building block in organic synthesis

Abstract

Carbon dioxide is an abundant and easily available source of carbon, produced as a waste product in large quantities worldwide. Here, the authors review recent work on activating and reacting carbon dioxide for use as a building block in organic synthesis. Carbon dioxide exits in the atmosphere and is produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, the fermentation of sugars and the respiration of all living organisms. An active goal in organic synthesis is to take this carbon—trapped in a waste product—and re-use it to build useful chemicals. Recent advances in organometallic chemistry and catalysis provide effective means for the chemical transformation of CO2 and its incorporation into synthetic organic molecules under mild conditions. Such a use of carbon dioxide as a renewable one-carbon (C1) building block in organic synthesis could contribute to a more sustainable use of resources.