Decarboxylative Coupling Reactions

Transition metal-catalyzed decarboxylative couplings have recently emerged as a promising concept for C–C and C–heteroatom bond formation. Our contribution to this rapidly evolving field was the development of redox-neutral decarboxylative cross-couplings. In these catalytic transformations, carboxylic acids extrude CO2 to give organometallic intermediates, which react with aryl electrophiles under regioselective formation of a new C–C bond. This reaction concept compares favorably to traditional cross-couplings involving preformed organometallic reagents, as it draws on stable and broadly available carboxylic acids as the source of carbon nucleophiles. In this chapter, we describe the invention process that resulted in the discovery of the first active catalyst systems and in the stepwise extension of this concept to a broadly applicable synthetic concept. A short overview on recent developments in this field is also provided.