Dehydrogenation of alcohols under ambient atmosphere by a recyclable sol-gel encaged iridium pincer catalyst

We demonstrate that a sot-gel entrapped iridium-pincer catalyst 1 is capable of promoting acceptorless dehydrogenation of primary and secondary alcohols. Although the dehydrogenations by the non-heterogenized catalyst are faster than by the sot-gel encaged complex, recyclability and significant stabilization of the organometallic species toward non-inert conditions represent a clear advantage from the environmental and practical points of view. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.