The Use of a Cativa‐Type Catalyst for the Self‐Reductive Decarbonylation of Long Chain Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids into Noralkanes

Abstract The one‐carbon degradation of aliphatic carboxylic acids has been studied using a H 2 IrCl 6 ‐Ru(CO) 4 I 2 bimetallic catalyst. Alkanes, RH, have been obtained from the corresponding RCOOH in good to near quantitative yields via a process that is thought to involve (i) a decarbonylation process that involves the formation of alkenes along with CO and H 2 O, (ii) a water–gas shift (WGS) reaction to give H 2 and CO 2 , and (iii) the hydrogenation of the resulting alkenes.