Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylation of Indoles Using Aryl Formates as Bifunctional Reagents: A Route to Indol-3-yl Aryl Ketones.

A new Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of indoles for the synthesis of indol-3-yl aryl ketones under CO-free conditions was developed. The reaction showed a broad substrate scope with moderate to excellent yields.