Cobalt-catalyzed photopromoted carbonylation of chloroalkanes in the presence of KI

The photopromoted carbonylation of chloroalkanes with carbon monoxide catalyzed by cobalt compounds [Co(OAc)(2), CoCl(2)] in the presence of KI was carried out under ambient conditions. The results revealed that the catalytic activity of Co(OAc)(2) was higher than that of CoCl(2). A basic additive NaOAc was beneficial to the reaction. Interestingly, with NaOAc as an additive, Co(OAc)(2) and CoCl(2) exhibited similar catalytic activity. Preliminary work showed that the role of iodide ion was initially to form active iodoalkanes via substituting chloride ion in chloroalkanes in situ, and then, the carbonylation of iodoalkanes proceeded under irradiation. (C) 2010 Xiang Sheng Wang. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.