A process for preparing aromatic urethane by reacting an aromatic nitro compound, a hydroxy group-containing organic compound having at least one hydroxy group, and carbon monoxide at elevated temperatures under high pressure in the presence of a catalyst comprising a platinum group metal and/or a compound thereof, a Lewis acid, and a tertiary amine, which comprises allowing ferrous hydroxide and/or ferric hydroxide to coexist in the reaction system. This process so remarkably accelerates the reaction that it is completed in a short time, and the process enables the preparation of aromatic urethane in a high yield using a small amount of the platinum group metal catalyst.
A process for producing carbamic acid esters (N-phenyl carbamate) which comprises reacting an amino group-containing compound (aniline), oxygen, a nitro group-containing compound (nitrobenzene), a carbon monoxide-containing gas and a hydroxyl group-containing organic compound (ethyl alcohol) in the presence of a compound of a transition metal belonging to Pt group of VIII group (Pd) of the Periodic Table as catalyst, a non-metal halide (HCℓ) and water.