Iridium-formic acid based system for hydroxycarbonylation without CO gas

A simple method for hydroxycarbonylation of alkenes or alcohols substrates which avoids CO gas handling is reported. The proposed formic acid-iridium based system appears very attractive due to very good chemical performances for such a reaction and high stability of the catalyst. This reaction was developed for industrial purposes, but is also of interest for small scale syntheses, since it does not require expensive equipments and can be carried out easily. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.