Visible-Light-Induced Catalyst-Free Carboxylation of Acylsilanes with Carbon Dioxide.

Intermolecular carbon-carbon bond formation between acylsilanes and carbon dioxide (CO2) was achieved by photoirradiation under catalyst-free conditions. In this reaction, siloxycarbenes generated by photoisomerization of the acylsilanes added to the C═O bond of CO2 to give α-ketocarboxylates, which underwent hydrolysis to afford α-ketocarboxylic derivatives in good yields. Control experiments suggest that the generated siloxycarbene is likely to be from the singlet state (S1) of the acylsilane and the addition to CO2 is not in a concerted manner.