3‐disubstituted phthalides in good to high yields at ambienttemperature. In a similar manner, 3‐hydroxyisoindolin‐1‐one and 3‐hydroxyoxindole derivatives could also be easily prepared by direct reductive coupling of phthalimides and N‐substituted isatins with activated alkenes, respectively. Application of this methodology towards the synthesis of 1‐naphthol derivatives on a gram scale is also depicted
zed carbonylations involved either toxic carbon monoxide (CO) gas as carbonylating agent or functional-group-assisted ortho sp2 C–H activation (i.e., ortho acylation) or carbonylation by activation of the carbonyl group (i.e., via the formation of enamines). Contradicting these methods, here we describe an environmentally benign process, [Pd]-catalyzed direct carbonylation starting from simple and