An efficient and convenient palladium-catalyzed carbonylative procedure for the synthesis of bis(indolyl) methanes has been established for the first time. With TFBen (benzene-1,3,5-triy1 triformate) as the solid CO source, aryl iodides and indoles were transformed into the corresponding bis(indolyl)methane derivatives in moderate to excellent yields. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.