Photocatalytic Carboxylation of Phenyl Halides with CO2 by Metal-Organic Frameworks Materials

Main observation and conclusion In this work, important commercial pharmaceutical intermediates, phenylpropionic acid compounds, are successfully obtained by catalyzing the reaction of carbon dioxide with phenyl halides using MOF-5, a typical metal-organic framework (MOF) material. The influence of temperature, pressure, catalyst type and light on the reaction is investigated, and a 90.3% selectivity towards fluorophenylpropionic acid is reached. Significantly, the catalysts are effective for varied benzyl compounds containing different substituent groups. The catalysts are stable and remain active after three cycles.

Automated summary

In this work, important commercial pharmaceutical intermediates, phenylpropionic acid compounds, were successfully obtained by catalyzing the reaction of carbon dioxide with phenyl halides using MOF-5. The influence of temperature, pressure, catalyst type, and light on the reaction was investigated, reaching a 90.3% selectivity towards fluorophenylpropionic acid. The catalysts were effective for varied benzyl compounds containing different substituent groups, and remained stable and active after three cycles.