Developments in sustainable C-C bond forming reactions

This project is industrial and confidential, therefore the abstract provided below is brief and vague. This is to not void the confidentiality agreement set out as a part of this project.

The use of carbon dioxide as a C1 chemical feedstock represents an attractive objective but one with significant challenges, not least the thermodynamics of any proposed reaction. A reaction that holds significant promise, not least in that it is commercially operated, is the Kolbe-Schmitt (K-S) reaction for the production of salicyclic acid. This reaction is particularly interesting in that a new C-C bond is formed. It is also striking that the accepted mechanism
implicates the concerted, cooperative activation of carbon dioxide is a manner very reminiscent of modern frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) catalysts. We propose that the application of modern cooperative catalysis design principles will be able to greatly increase the scope.