ABSTRACT
Decarboxylation, particularly by the thermal route, plays a major role in a number of biological processes such as the thiamine-mediated decarboxylation of pyruvic acid to acetaldehyde and CO
and the pyridoxal-phosphate-mediated decarboxylation of amino acids
that involves radical intermediates. Most of the earlier studies on photodecarboxylation were carried out in the gas phase and are accompanied by a large number of competing reaction channels. This factor coupled with the high energy absorption of a carboxylic group (less than 250 nm) has resulted in the photochemistry of the carboxylic group receiving less attention than aldehyde and ketones. Only recently has the reaction attracted wide academic interest and synthetic utility, and excellent reviews have appeared on this topic.
