Abstract We reported here the catalytic carbonylation of quaternary ammonium salts under anhydrous condition. Quaternary ammonium salts, a kind of versatile reagents that were widely used in organometallic chemistry, can be carbonylated to tertiary amides by an in situ prepared NaCo (CO) 4 catalyst. It was found that the counterions (Cl−, Br−, I−, OTf−) in the quaternary ammonium salts played a significant role in the reaction and ...