A Supramolecular Catalyst for the Decarboxylative Hydroformylation of α,β‐Unsaturated Carboxylic Acids

Head 'em up, move 'em out, aldehyde! A catalytic transformation of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids into aldehydes through a hydroformylation–decarboxylation process has been developed (see scheme; Do=donor ligand, FG1 and FG2=complementary functional groups). The reaction proceeds at mild conditions, tolerates many functional groups, and liberates CO2 as the only stoichiometric by-product.