Photocatalyzed oxidative cleavage of alkenes using CO 2 as an oxygen donor
- Yuman Qin
- Peng Ren
- Jun Hu
- Suman Pradhan
- Thanh Huyen Vuong
- Xiufang He
- Lulu Alluhaibi
- Nils Rockstroh
- Susanna Monti
- Giovanni Barcaro
- Aleksander Jaworski
- Piotr Kuśtrowski
- Jabor Rabeah
- Daniel Hohenberger
- Sergey Bagnich
- Anna Köhler
- Josef Breu
- Gianvito Vilé
- Matthias Beller
- Shoubhik Das
2026-06-04
Oxidative cleavage of carbon-carbon double bonds often requires hazardous reagents and demanding conditions. In this study, we report a photocatalytic oxidative cleavage of alkenes using benign carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) as an oxygen donor, producing ketones or carboxylic acids at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. A robust iron-based heterogeneous photocatalyst facilitates oxygen transfer to form an epoxide intermediate that subsequently undergoes ring opening and carbon-carbon bond cleavage to yield the oxidative products with high selectivity. Comprehensive mechanistic studies combine time-resolved spectroscopy, isotope labeling, and in situ spectroscopic analyses with advanced quantum mechanical simulations. These results uncover fundamental principles of oxygen transfer from CO 2 under photocatalytic conditions, offering a sustainable platform for light-driven oxidative transformations.