Hydrogen-Borrowing and Interrupted-Hydrogen-Borrowing Reactions of Ketones and Methanol Catalyzed by Iridium.

[IrCl(cod)]2 as the catalyst promotes hydrogen-borrowing reaction of ketone enolates with methanol to give enones (III) which can react with excess methanol as nucleophile to yield mixtures of methoxymethyl derivatives (IV) and the enones (III).