Although carbon dioxide (CO₂) is highly abundant, its low reactivity has limited its use in chemical synthesis. In particular, methods for carbon–carbon bond formation generally rely on two-electron mechanisms for CO₂ activation and require highly activated reaction partners. Alternatively, radical pathways accessed via photoredox catalysis could provide new reactivity under milder conditions. Here we demonstrate the direct coupling of CO₂ and amines via the single-electron reduction of CO₂ for the photoredox-catalysed continuous flow synthesis of α-amino acids. By leveraging the advantages of utilizing gases and photochemistry in flow, a commercially available organic photoredox catalyst effects the selective α-carboxylation of amines that bear various functional groups and heterocycles. The preliminary mechanistic studies support CO₂ activation and carbon–carbon bond formation via single-electron pathways, and we expect that this strategy will inspire new perspectives on using this feedstock chemical in organic synthesis.

Nature Chemistry (2016) doi:10.1038/nchem.2690
Received 19 September 2016 Accepted 04 November 2016 Published online 26 December 2016

http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchem.2690.html