Carboxylation and Esterification of Functionalized Arylcopper Reagents^§

Functionalized arylcopper reagents have been produced in good yields at 25 °C from activated copper and the corresponding functionalized aryl iodides without the need of traditional organolithium or Grignard precursors. These organocopper compounds will undergo carboxylation with CO₂ to form the corresponding copper benzoates. In turn, these salts can be acidified to produce the functionalized aryl acids or treated with appropriate alkyl halides in the presence of a dipolar aprotic solvent to generate the corresponding aryl esters. This methodology permits the formation of functionalized organic acids and esters that could not be generated by the carboxylation of organomagnesium compounds.