“…Although the transformation we describe is new, there are many important precedents which must be cited to appropriately reference our findings. Among these is the electrophilic decarboxylation of electron-rich acids to form organomercurials by Hg(II) salts, the Pesci reaction, a hemidecarboxylation of phthalic acids by mercury salts, the decarboxylative substitution of unsaturated acids by Br 2 , NBS, NO 2 + , and H + , and palladium-catalyzed Heck-type couplings of aromatic acid chlorides, anhydrides, and p -nitrophenyl esters with various olefinic substrates. An important distinction between our work and earlier palladium-catalyzed processes is that the latter are proposed to evolve carbon monoxide, not carbon dioxide as in our work, a proposal which we have validated experimentally in the case of coupling of acid chlorides and olefins (Supporting Information).…”