Recent Advances in Metal-Catalyzed Carbonylation Reactions by Using Formic Acid as CO Surrogate

Carbonylation reactions under transition metal catalysis have emerged as one of the most important strategies for the construction of CO inserted molecules having both industrial and material applications. Hence the most widely used protocol for the insertion of CO is by the utilization of CO (gas) but this method limits its applicability in industrial-scale carbonylation due to toxic and explosive nature. To use more cheaper and environmentally benign methods the chemistry of CO surrogates gained considerable attention with the emergence of newer methods and CO surrogates. Aldehydes, formate esters, formamides, and metal carbonyls are the some of the CO surrogates that have been extensively utilized in recent times for the synthesis of industrial bulk chemicals as well in small scale synthesis of pharmacological building blocks. In this review, we have summarized the recent development in carbonylation reactions by utilization of formic acid as CO surrogate.