Aldehydes

In organic synthesis, the aldehyde is one of the most versatile functional groups and participates in a broad range of fundamental named reactions. The Wittig reaction and its phosphonate variant, the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, convert aldehydes to alkenes with control over olefin geometry, and are routinely employed in the synthesis of drug fragments containing extended conjugated systems. Reductive amination, using reducing agents such as sodium cyanoborohydride or sodium triacetoxyborohydride, converts aldehydes and amines directly to secondary amines via transient imine intermediates, and is among the most commonly applied C-N bond-forming reactions in pharmaceutical synthesis. The Grignard and organolithium additions to aldehydes provide rapid access to secondary alcohols, while the Pinnick oxidation converts aldehydes to carboxylic acids under mild, selective conditions. The Cannizzaro reaction enables disproportionation of non-enolisable aldehydes to the corresponding alcohol and acid, and the Knoevenagel condensation provides access to alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl systems of relevance to SAR diversification.

Emerging synthetic techniques are opening new avenues for the use of aldehydes. In photochemistry, visible-light hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysis enables the generation of nucleophilic acyl radicals directly from the aldehydic C-H bond, providing access to diverse acyl products through radical addition to alkenes, alkynes, and SOMOphilic sulfone reagents without the need for prefunctionalisation or transition metal oxidants. Photoredox organocatalysis, combining enamine intermediates with single-electron oxidation, has enabled direct beta-alkylation of aldehydes, demonstrating the power of dual catalysis for enantioselective C-C bond formation at positions remote from the carbonyl. Electrochemically, aldehydes participate as substrates in cathodic reductive electrolysis, generating radical-anion intermediates that can be intercepted for C-C and C-heteroatom bond formation, while anodic approaches have enabled deformylative cross-coupling strategies that use the aldehyde as a traceless C1 unit.

Our catalogue of aldehydes spans aryl, heteroaryl, and alkyl structures . We offer aldehydes with additional substitution patterns and functional group handles to support medicinal chemistry programmes, late-stage diversification strategies, SAR investigations, and complex molecule synthesis.