Carbonylations of Alkenes with CO Surrogates

Alkene carbonylation reactions are important for the production of value-added bulk and fine chemicals. Nowadays, all industrial carbonylation processes make use of highly toxic and flammable carbon monoxide. In fact, these properties impede the wider use of carbonylation reactions in industry and academia. Hence, performing carbonylations without the use of CO is highly desired and will contribute to the further advancement of sustainable chemistry. Although the use of carbon monoxide surrogates in alkene carbonylation reactions has been reported intermittently in the last 30 years, only recently has this area attracted significant interest. This Minireview summarizes carbonylation reactions of alkenes using different carbon monoxide surrogates.