PROCESS FOR PRODUCING BETA-HYDROXYESTER

A process for producing a ²-hydroxyester by reacting an epoxide, an alcohol and carbon monoxide in the presence of a cobalt carbonyl compound as catalyst, which is characterized in using as co-catalyst, a pyridine derivative having an amino substituent of formula (1), wherein R 1 and R 2 are independently hydrogen, formyl, acyl, alkoxycarbonyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, or R 1 and R 2 may be taken together with the adjacent nitrogen atom to form a ring, and n is an integer of 1 or 2.