Editing Iridium (section)

=== Organoiridium chemistry ===
[[File: Ir2Cl2 cod 2improved.svg|thumb|left|[[Cyclooctadiene iridium chloride dimer]] is a common complex of Ir(I).]]

[[Organoiridium compound]]s contain iridium–[[carbon]] bonds. Early studies identified the very stable [[tetrairidium dodecacarbonyl]], {{chem|Ir|4|(CO)|12}}.<ref name="greenwood" /> In this compound, each of the iridium atoms is bonded to the other three, forming a [[Tetrahedron|tetrahedral]] cluster. The discovery of [[Vaska's complex]] ({{chem|IrCl(CO)[P(C|6|H|5|)|3|]|2}}) opened the [[door]] for [[oxidative addition]] reactions, a process fundamental to useful reactions. For example, [[Crabtree's catalyst]], a [[homogeneous catalyst]] for [[hydrogenation]] reactions.<ref>{{cite journal|first = R. H.| last = Crabtree| author-link =Robert H. Crabtree| title = Iridium compounds in catalysis| journal = Accounts of Chemical Research| date = 1979| volume = 12| pages = 331–337| doi = 10.1021/ar50141a005|issue = 9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=The Organometallic Chemistry of the Transition Metals| url=http://chimicibicocca.altervista.org/data/chimica_lucidi.pdf| author=Crabtree, R. H.| date=2005| publisher=Wiley| isbn=978-0471662563| oclc=224478241| author-link=Robert H. Crabtree| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119073400/http://chimicibicocca.altervista.org/data/chimica_lucidi.pdf| archive-date=2012-11-19}}</ref>

[[File:C-HactnBergGrah.png|upright=2|left|thumb|Oxidative addition to hydrocarbons in [[organoiridium chemistry]]<ref name="RGB">{{cite journal|title=Carbon-hydrogen activation in completely saturated hydrocarbons: direct observation of M + R-H → M(R)(H)|author=Janowicz, A. H.|author2=Bergman, R. G.|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|date=1982|volume=104|issue=1|pages=352–354|doi=10.1021/ja00365a091}}</ref><ref name="WAGG">{{cite journal|title=Oxidative addition of the carbon-hydrogen bonds of neopentane and cyclohexane to a photochemically generated iridium(I) complex|author=Hoyano, J. K.|author2=Graham, W. A. G.|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|date=1982|volume=104|issue=13|pages=3723–3725|doi=10.1021/ja00377a032|bibcode=1982JAChS.104.3723H }}</ref>|alt=Skeletal formula presentation of a chemical transformation. The initial compounds have a C5H5 ring on their top and an iridium atom in the center, which is bonded to two hydrogen atoms and a P-PH3 group or to two C-O groups. Reaction with alkane under UV light alters those groups.]]
Iridium complexes played a pivotal role in the development of [[C-H bond activation|carbon–hydrogen bond activation]] (C–H activation), which promises to allow functionalization of [[hydrocarbon]]s, which are traditionally regarded as [[Reactivity (chemistry)|unreactive]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1039/c0cs00156b|title=Regioselectivity of the Borylation of Alkanes and Arenes |year=2011 |last1=Hartwig |first1=John F. |journal=Chemical Society Reviews |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=1992–2002 |pmid=21336364 }}</ref>