High activity cobalt based catalysts for the carbonylation of methanol

[Cp(*)Co(CO)2] in the presence of PEt3 and Mel catalyses the carbonylation of methanol with initial rates up to 44 mol dm-3 h-1 before decaying to a second catalytic phase with rates of 3 mol dm-3 h-1; [CoI(CO)2(PEt3)2], which is trigonal bipyramidal with axial PEt3 ligands, has been isolated from the final reaction solution.</p