Ionic hydrogenation has not been extensively explored, but is advantageous for challenging substrates such as unsaturated intermediates. Reported here is an iridium-catalyzedhydrogenation of oxocarbenium ions to afford chiral isochromans with high enantioselectivities. A variety of functionalities are compatible with this catalytic system. In the presence of a catalytic amount of the Brønsted acid
Isochromanone is the core structure of many bioactive compounds. Direct oxidation of isochromans is one of leading methods for the construction of isochromanones, while most established processes remain suffering from the use of environmentally unfriendly metal oxidants, harsh reaction conditions, and the difficulty in catalyst recycling and product separation. Herein, we report a convenient, cost-effective