Iridium as a general catalyst for the decarbonylative addition of aldehydes to alkynes

A general catalytic system for the decarbonylative addition reaction of aldehydes with alkynes is developed by using an iridium catalyst system. Both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes reacted with terminal alkynes efficiently to give the corresponding olefination products in high yields and up to 11:1 E/Z selectivity.