Carboxylation of terminal alkynes at ambient CO2 pressure in ethylene carbonate

The CuI-catalyzed carboxylation of terminal alkynes with CO2 and alkyl halides using ethylene carbonate as the solvent under mild conditions was studied. DFT calculations reveal that the energy barrier for CO2 insertion into the sp-hybridized Cu-C bond could be reduced by employing ethylene carbonate as the solvent. Notably, the procedure was conducted under ambient CO2 pressure without any external ligands. A broad range of substrates with electron-withdrawing groups or electron-donating groups gave the corresponding products in reasonable yields.