Harnessing the Reactivity of Iridium Hydrides by Air: Iridium-Catalyzed Oxidation of Aldehydes to Acids in Water

An iridium-catalyzed oxidation of aldehydes to acids was realized by using air as the oxidant and water as the solvent in the presence of base. Interestingly, the same type of catalysts were also used for the reduction of aldehydes under acidic conditions. A common iridium hydride intermediate is proposed for both redox reactions. The oxidation has a number of advantages such as high yields, great functionality tolerance, and easy purification without chromatography.