title: Silver-catalyzed C-C bond formation between methane and ethyl diazoacetate in supercritical CO₂.
abstract: Even in the context of hydrocarbons' general resistance to selective functionalization, methane's volatility and strong bonds pose a particular challenge. We report here that silver complexes bearing perfluorinated indazolylborate ligands catalyze the reaction of methane (CH(4)) with ethyl diazoacetate (N(2)CHCO(2)Et) to yield ethyl propionate (CH(3)CH(2)CO(2)Et). The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) as the solvent is key to the reaction's success. Although the catalyst is only sparingly soluble in CH(4)/CO(2) mixtures, optimized conditions presently result in a 19% yield of ethyl propionate (based on starting quantity of the diazoester) at 40°C over 14 hours.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Catálisis Homogénea, Departamento de Química y Ciencia de los Materiales, Unidad Asociada al Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Centro de Investigación en Química Sostenible, Universidad de Huelva, Campus de El Carmen, 21007-Huelva, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Despagnet-Ayoub
authors.forename: M Mar
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Díaz-Requejo
authors.forename: Alba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Díaz-Rodríguez
authors.forename: María Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: González-Núñez
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mello
authors.forename: Bianca K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Wilfried-Solo
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Ojo
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Asensio
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Etienne
authors.forename: Pedro J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Pérez