Despite current interest in the biological roles of vanadium, its application in catalysis is still an underdeveloped field of research.[1] We have already reported that amavadine, a natural vanadium complex present in some Amanita fungi and whose biological function is still unknown, can exhibit haloperoxidase-and peroxidase-type activities and act as a catalyst for the oxidation of some biological thiols, [2] as well as for the peroxidative halogenation, hydroxylation, and oxofunctionalization of alkanes and aromatic compounds. [3] Following this work, we have been searching for other reactions that could be catalyzed by this and related V complexes, in particular the conversion of methane-the main component of natural gas and the most abundant and least reactive alkane-into functionalized products with added commercial value.[4] Recently attention has focused on the metal-catalyzed transformation of CH 4 and CO into acetic acid, [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] as well as the formation of carbonylated products without requiring the use of noxious CO, such as the conversion of CH 4 into methyl esters [12] and into acetic acid (and methanol).[9] The latter, the reaction of CH 4 and CO 2 catalyzed by NaVO 3 /pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid (in the presence of H 2 O 2 in aqueous solution), occurs in very low yield based on CH 4 (ca. 0.01 %) and at a considerable pressure (50 bar) of this gas, although at low temperature (40 8C).[9]The reaction also proceeds with CO, which apparently is the carbonylating agent even when CO 2 is used (CO is then formed by reduction of CO 2 by methyl and/or hydroxyl radicals).[9] We now report the unprecedented (to our knowledge) conversion of CH 4 into CH 3 COOH in the absence of either CO or CO 2 , in a novel single-pot catalytic reaction [Eq. (1)] under considerably mild conditions and in high yields. Table 1, and typical conditions include conducting the reaction in CF 3 COOH at 80 8C with molar ratios of CH 4 :V catalyst and K 2 S 2 O 8 :V catalyst of 46:1 (corresponding to CH 4 pressure of 5 atm) and 200:1, respectively. Usually the yields were determined after a reaction time of 20 h, but often much shorter times were sufficient to attain close values (see entries 1 and 11 for yields obtained after 2 h; the former is 92 % of that in entry 2 obtained after 20 h). The most active catalysts, which can give yields over 50 % and TONs close to 30, are complex 1 within the type