Mónica Martínez-Aguirre, Rowan M Bailey, Bernd Schaefer, Mark R Crimmin, Philip W Miller
A cobalt photocatalysed carbonylation reaction has been developed and applied in continuous flow. Dicobalt octacarbonyl, [Co2(CO)8], serves both as a catalyst and as a carbon monoxide surrogate for the synthesis of amides and esters. The process is technically straightforward, has been applied to pharamceutical derviatives and demonstrated on multi-gram scale.