High value utilization of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has attracted worldwide attention for decades. Catalytic carboxylation of alkenes with CO₂ to synthesize valuable carboxylic acids and diacids is highly important. Although visible-light photocatalytic single-electron transfer reduction of CO₂ could provide an alternative choice for diverse chemo- and regio-selectivities, it has rarely been investigated in carboxylation. Moreover, visible-light photocatalytic carboxylation of unactivated alkenes with CO₂^•− has never been reported. Here we report visible-light photocatalytic di- and hydro-carboxylation of unactivated alkenes with CO₂. In contrast to previous reports limited to activated alkenes, diverse unactivated aliphatic alkenes undergo selective carboxylations to give carboxylic acids, dicarboxylic acids and unnatural α-amino acid derivatives in moderate to good yields. Mechanistic studies suggest that CO₂ might be reduced to CO₂^•− via consecutive photo-induced electron transfer, and this species would attack unactivated alkenes followed by subsequent hydrogen atom transfer and other relevant processes to afford the corresponding products.

几十年来，二氧化碳（CO ₂）的高价值利用引起了全世界的关注。烯烃与CO ₂的催化羧化合成有价值的羧酸和二元酸是非常重要的。_{尽管CO 2}的可见光光催化单电子转移还原可以为不同的化学和区域选择性提供替代选择，但很少在羧化反应中进行研究。此外，从未报道过用CO ₂ ^•-对未活化烯烃进行可见光光催化羧化。_{在这里，我们报告了未活化烯烃与 CO 2}的可见光光催化二羧化和加氢羧化. 与以前仅限于活化烯烃的报道相比，多种未活化的脂肪族烯烃进行选择性羧化反应，以中等至良好的产率产生羧酸、二羧酸和非天然 α-氨基酸衍生物。机理研究表明，CO ₂可能通过连续的光诱导电子转移被还原为CO ₂ ^{•− ，并且该物种会攻击未活化的烯烃，然后进行氢原子转移和其他相关过程以提供相应的产物。}