Molybdenum Hexacarbonyl Mediated Alkoxycarbonylation of Aryl Halides.

Mo(CO) 6 -mediates the alkoxycarbonylation of aryl halides in their reaction with alcohols to afford arenecarboxylic acid esters. The molybdenum carbonyl complexes act as the catalyst and the source with carbon monoxide. The alkoxycarbonylation proceeds with a small excess of carbon monoxide in the form of Mo(CO) 6 and the procedure is simple compared to the conventional method, which uses palladium catalyst under gaseous carbon monoxide. Using this procedure, a variety of carboxylic acid esters were prepared.