Light-Activated CO Donor as a Universal CO Surrogate for Pd- Catalyzed and Light-Mediated Carbonylation

A low-molecular-weight, solid CO surrogate that only requires a low-power LED for activation to release 2 equiv of CO is reported. The surrogate can be universally implemented in various palladium-catalyzed carbonylative transformations. It is also compatible with protocols that employ blue-light to activate conventionally inaccessible substrates such as nonactivated alkyl halides. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the photolabile CO releasing scaffold can be installed into polymeric materials, thereby creating new materials with CO-releasing capabilities.