Amino acids formed from the single-electron activation of carbon dioxide

Amino acids formed from the single-electron activation of carbon dioxide
January 12, 2017 by Heather Zeiger

(Phys.org)—Carbon dioxide, an abundant greenhouse gas, is very difficult to use as a carbon source for carbon-carbon bond formation. CO2 is highly stable and unreactive, requiring prohibitively difficult or toxic reagents in order to form carbon bonds.

Hyowon Seo, Matthew H. Katcher, and Timothy F. Jamison of Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a continuous flow system that allows for the single-electron reduction of CO2 that combines with a variety of amines to form α-amino acids. Their methodology involves the use of a photoredox catalyst and, using their flow system, optimized reaction conditions to obtain regioselective α-amino acids in high yields. Their work appears in Nature Chemistry.

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https://phys.org/news/2017-01-amino-acids-single-electron-carbon-dioxide.html