A general platinum-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of olefins.

Hydroxy- and alkoxycarbonylation reactions constitute important industrial processes in homogeneous catalysis. Nowadays, palladium complexes constitute state-of-the-art catalysts for these transformations. Herein, we report the first efficient platinum-catalysed alkoxycarbonylations of olefins including sterically hindered and functionalized ones. This atom-efficient catalytic transformation provides straightforward access to a variety of valuable esters in good to excellent yields and often with high selectivities. In kinetic experiments the activities of Pd- and Pt-based catalysts were compared. Even at low catalyst loading, Pt shows high catalytic activity.