Direct Carboxylation of Aryl Tosylates by CO2 Catalyzed by In situ-Generated Ni(0).

A novel Ni(0) -catalyzed carboxylation of aryl tosylates with carbon dioxide has been achieved under moderate temperatures and atmospheric pressure. In this procedure, the active Ni(0) species is generated in situ by simply mixing the Ni(0) precatalyst [NiBr2 (bipy)] with an excess of manganese metal. This approach requires neither a glove-box nor the tedious preparation of sophisticated intermediate organometallic derivatives. This mild, convenient, and user-friendly process is successfully applied to the valorization of carbon dioxide and the synthesis of versatile reactants with broad tolerance of substituents.