REVIEW

Progress and challenges in dicarboxylation with CO₂

¹ Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry & Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China
³ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China

^* Corresponding authors (emails: liaoll@cqu.edu.cn (Li-Li Liao); dgyu@scu.edu.cn (Da-Gang Yu))

Received: 26 January 2022
Revised: 9 June 2022
Accepted: 13 June 2022

Abstract

Dicarboxylic acids, which are appealing structural motifs in organic synthesis and exist widely in bioactive compounds, have been widely used as important monomers in the polymer industry to construct valuable materials. The dicarboxylation with CO₂ provides a convenient and potent way to furnish value-added dicarboxylic acids via the chemical fixation of two CO₂ molecules. Beyond any doubt, the development of dicarboxylation, especially the dicarboxylation of bulk chemicals, might represent a promising prospect in CO₂ capture and utilization (CCU). In this review, we critically summarized and comprehensively reviewed the advances made in the past decades in dicarboxylation with CO₂ under electro-, photo- and transition metal-mediated/catalytic systems. Moreover, the advantages and limitations of such dicarboxylation reactions are pointed out to unravel further development for future scientific and industrial advances in dicarboxylation with CO₂ to synthesize dicarboxylic acids in high selectivity and efficiency.