alpha-(6-Methoxyl-2-naphthyl) ethanol can be carbonylated to form methyl-alpha-(6-methoxyl-2-naphthyl)propionate catalyzed by a catalyst in the pressnce of methanol. High efficiency capillary gas chromatography and GC/MS technique were used for determining products which were obtained from the carbonylation. An OV-101 fused silica capillary column (25 m x 0.2 mm i.d.) and a flame ionization detector (FID) were employed in the GC analysis. The column temperature was kept at 250 degrees C. Mass spectra were obtained by electron impact at 70 eV. The structures of four compounds were identified. The major product is methyl-alpha-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl) propionate, and the two by-products are 2-vinyl-6-methoxynaphthalene and 1-methoxy-(6'-methoxy-2'-naphthyl)ethanol.