Online Coupling High-Temperature Electrolysis with Carbonylation Reactions: A Powerful Method for Continuous Carbon Dioxide Utilization.

Despite being widely available, the broad utilization of CO2 for chemical production remains in its infancy. The difficulty of using CO2 as an important resource for the chemical industry lies in the high stability of the molecule and its associated inertia. In this work, we demonstrate how to overcome these limitations by utilizing a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) with an optimized cathode to produce dry CO through the high-temperature electrolysis of CO2. We further integrate this process with a synthesis setup in a continuous-flow coil reactor to boost reactivity in various carbonylation processes, including in amino-, alkoxy-, and phenoxycarbonylation, carbonylative Sonogashira couplings, or the synthesis of redox-active esters. Ultimately, our approach offers a platform strategy for the rapid, scalable, and continuous production of carbonyl compounds directly from CO2 while eliminating the requirement for storing large CO quantities.