Electro-reductive carboxylation of CCl bonds in unactivated alkyl chlorides and polyvinyl chloride with CO2

Abstract

The carboxylation of readily available organo halides with CO₂ represents a practical strategy to afford valuable carboxylic acids. However, efficient carboxylation of inexpensive unactivated alkyl chlorides is still underdeveloped. Herein, we report the electro-reductive carboxylation of CCl bonds in unactivated chlorides and polyvinyl chloride with CO₂. A variety of alkyl carboxylic acids are obtained in moderate to good yields under mild conditions with high chemoselectivity. Importantly, the utility of this electro-reductive carboxylation is demonstrated with great potential in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) upgrading, which could convert discarded PVC from hydrophobic to hydrophilic functional products. Mechanistic experiments support the successive single electron reduction of unactivated chlorides to generate alkyl anion species and following nucleophilic attack on CO₂ to give desired products.