Abstract A new palladium-based system was developed that catalyzes the coupling of aryl halides with diethyl malonates in the presence of mild bases. In the course of the reaction, the intermediately formed diethyl arylmalonate is directly converted into the arylacetic acid ester via liberation of carbon dioxide and an alkanol. This cross-coupling/ dealkoxycarbonylation process provides an efficient and high-yielding synthetic entry to ...