Abstract A new, practical synthesis of aryl and heteroaryl N-acylureas has been developed via palladium-catalysed carbonylation of aryl or heteroaryl halides in the presence of urea nucleophiles. A range of reactions illustrating the wide scope of this reaction was carried out under microwave irradiation, using either carbon monoxide gas in a vessel equipped with a gas inlet adapter, or molybdenum hexacarbonyl as the carbon monoxide source in ...