Mechanistic insight into the synergistic Cu/Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl iodides using alcohols and dioxygen as the carbonyl source

Pd-catalyzed carbonylation, as an efficient synthetic approach for the installation of carbonyl groups in organic compounds, has been one of the most important research fields in the past decade. Although elegant reactions that allow highly selective carbonylations have been developed, straightforward routes with improved reaction activity and broader substrate scope remain long-term challenges for new practical applications. Here, we show a new type of synergistic Cu/Pd-catalyzed carbonylation reaction using alcohols and dioxgen as the carbonyl sources. A broad range of aryl iodides and alcohols are compatible with this protocol. The reaction is concise and practical due to the ready availability of the starting materials and the scalability of the reaction. In addition, the reaction affords lactones and lactams in an intermolecular fashion. Moreover, DFT calculations have been performed to study the detailed mechanisms.