Mechanochemical synthesis of carboxylic acids and amides: Nickel-catalyzed direct carbonylation of aryl halides using dry ice

Carboxylic acids and their derivatives have great importance in synthetic organic chemistry. The development of an eco-friendly and efficient approaches for the synthesis of carboxylic acid derivatives using readily available gaseous CO2 as a C1 synthon is still a very challenging task. Herein, we report a convenient mechanochemical approach for the direct transformation of aryl halides into carboxylic acids/amides using dry ice as a CO2 source in the presence of nickel as a catalyst, nanocellulose as an additive, and iron powder as a reducing agent. The present dehalogenative ipso -carbonylation protocol features several advantages, such as the use of dry ice as a readily available C1 source, nanocellulose as a biodegradable additive, excellent yields under mild, solvent-free conditions, and easy separation/purification procedures.