Carboalkoxylation
In industrial chemistry, carboalkoxylation is a process for converting alkenes to esters. Also called hydroesterification, this reaction is a form of carbonylation. A closely related reaction is hydrocarboxylation, which employs water in place of alcohols
A commercial application is the carbomethoxylation of ethylene to give methyl propionate:
The process is catalyzed by Pd2. Under similar conditions, other Pd-diphosphines catalyze formation of polyethyleneketone.
Methyl propionate ester is a precursor to methyl methacrylate, which is used in plastics and adhesives.
