The formation of aldehydes from the photochemically activated reaction of Cp*Ir(CO)(Cl)(CH2R) complexes with water

The iridium complexes Cp*Ir(CO)(Cl)(CH2R), which do not contain any β-hydrogen atoms, react with water to form aldehydes. This reaction was found to be photochemically activated, and a possible pathway involving radical intermediates has been proposed and studied experimentally and computationally.