Carbon dioxide is an intrinsically stable molecule. Therefore,its activation requires extra energy input in the form of reactive reagents and/or activated catalysts and, often, harsh reaction conditions.R eported here is ad irect carboxylation reaction of aromatic aldehydes with carbon dioxide to afford a-keto acids as added-value products.I ns itu generation of ar eactive cyanohydrin was the key to the successful carboxylation reaction under operationally mild reaction conditions (25-40 8 8C, 1atm CO 2 ). The resulting a-keto acids served as ap latform for a-amino acid synthesis by reductive amination reactions,i llustrating the chemical synthesis of essential bioactive molecules from carbon dioxide. Scheme 1. Carboxylation reactions with CO 2 in:1)the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (top), and 2) using the aldehyde-umpolung approach (bottom).Scheme 2. Potential carboxylation reaction using the Breslow intermediate.