Realizing Metal-Free Carbene-Catalyzed Carbonylation Reactions with CO

International audience; Many organic and main group compounds, usually acids or bases, can accelerate chemical reactions when used in substoichiometric quantities, a process known as organocatalysis. In marked contrast, very few of these compounds are able to activate carbon monoxide and, until now, none of them catalyze its chemical transformation, a classical task for transition metals. Herein, we report that a stable singlet ambiphilic carbene activates CO and catalytically promotes the carbonylation of an ortho-quinone into a cyclic carbonate. These findings pave the way for the discovery of metal-free catalyzed carbonylation reactions.