Ligand free palladium catalyzed decarboxylative cross-coupling of aryl halides with oxalate monoester salts

Ligand free Pd-catalyzed decarboxylative cross-coupling of potassium oxalate monoester and derivatives with aryl iodides and bromides is described. Functionalized aromatic esters can be efficiently synthesized via this method with only 1.0 mol % Pd(OAc)2 catalyst without any phosphine ligand. This method illustrates an inexpensive and operationally simple method for the preparation of aromatic esters and acids, which is especially beneficial for a large scale synthesis.