The search for new, sustainable, inexpensive, efficient, nontoxic, recyclable, and eco-friendly catalysts are fundamental goals in modern catalysis. Fe is a very attractive transition metal for catalytic processes as it is virtually non-toxic, abundant, and relative easy to handle.

Brenno A. D. Neto, University of Brasília, Brazil, and colleagues, describe a new reduction reaction of alkenes under oxidative conditionscatalyzed by an Fe(III) complex with ionic tags, which acts as a pre-catalyst to form the active species in situ. The optimized reaction resulted in good to excellent yields of the reduced products. Ten recycling reactions could be conducted with no loss of activity.

This new Fe-catalyzed reaction has the potential to open a new avenue of possibilities towards greener and sustainable processes, and at the same time boosting the development of Fe chemistry.

• Iron Complex with Ionic Tag-Catalyzed Olefin Reduction under Oxidative Conditions—A Different Reaction for Iron,
  Marcelo R. dos Santos, Alexandre F. Gomes, Fabio C. Gozzo, Paulo A. Z. Suarez, Brenno A. D. Neto,
  ChemSusChem 2012.
  DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201200344