Ni-Catalyzed Direct Carboxylation of an Unactivated C-H Bond with CO.

The transition-metal-catalyzed direct carboxylation of an unactivated C-H bond is rarely reported, and no example of catalysis using abundant and cheap nickel has been reported. In this work, the first Ni-catalyzed direct carboxylation of an unactivated C-H bond under an atmospheric pressure of CO is reported. This method affords moderate to high carboxylation yields of various methyl carboxylates under mild conditions.