A General, Activator-Free Palladium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Arylacetic and Benzoic Acids from Formic Acid

A new catalyst for the carboxylative synthesis of arylacetic and benzoic acids using formic acid (HCOOH) as the CO surrogate was developed. In an improvement over previous work, CO is generated in situ without the need for any additional activators. Key to success was the use of a specific system consisting of palladium acetate and 1,2-bis((tert-butyl(2-pyridinyl) phosphinyl) methyl) benzene. The generality of this method is demonstrated by the synthesis of more than 30 carboxylic acids, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), under mild conditions in good yields.