Today many chemical productions are critical reviewed for which raw materials are used and which by-products are produced. For producing adipic acid, being essential to the production of nylon, large amounts of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) get released. Nitrous oxide shows greenhouse potentials nearly 300 times higher than CO₂. Novel methods for industrial productions of basic chemicals not only have to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly but increasingly prohibit the formation of unwanted by-products or even more so to convert them into useful resources.

The invention presented here not only offers a method for producing for example adipic acid without using metallic sacrificial anodes and with high yield, but also binds CO₂ by incorporating it into the product. The CO₂ is activated and with butadiene produces the adipic acid. This happens in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere as substitution of a metallic sacrificial anode to close the circuit. Therefore, no metallic salts must be separated from the product by complex methods. Thus, is simplifying the maintenance. Additionally, common catalysts are sufficient for catalyzing the reaction. All those benefits are applicable to every alkene and polyene for synthesizing base chemicals and binding CO₂.