Sustainable Carboxylation of Diamines with Hydrogen Carbonate

A protocol for the carboxylation of diamines employing quaternary ammonium hydrogen carbonates as C1 source is presented. The approach is used to obtain industrially relevant bis-O-alkyl carbamates with diverse structural features in very high yield, even on gram scale. The quaternary ammonium salts, formally acting as “transporters” of the carboxylating agent, can be recovered after the reaction, and recycled with high efficiency. Regeneration of the hydrogen carbonates on ion-exchange resin grants excellent atom economy in the process.