A novel dual-activation strategy for alkene hydrocarboxylation via radical-radical cross-coupling has been developed. This approach synchronously generates an alkenyl radical and CO2•-, favoring direct intermolecular coupling over cyclization. The Lewis acidic iron center could promote the formation of an EDA complex and catalyze enol tautomerization to a persistent allylic radical. This mild protocol provides a green route to succinamic acids and sulfamoyl propanoic acids and a new paradigm for controllable photochemical C-C bond formation.
Wang et al. (2026) studied this question.