Aldehydes, beyond their pleasant scents and uses in perfumes (e.g., Chanel N°5), are essential compounds with widespread applications in several industries. These versatile compounds serve as key intermediates in the synthesis of numerous fine chemicals, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. In addition, they are gaining prominence in the field of agrochemistry, where several fatty aldehydes are being used as natural pheromones for environmentally friendly pest control.
Despite their importance, producing aldehydes with high efficiency and selectivity has remained a persistent challenge, especially when using esters—common organic compounds—as starting materials. Current methods often suffer from issues like inefficiency, unwanted side products, and the need for harsh and often hazardous reaction conditions. Researchers have long sought to overcome these obstacles in their efforts to streamline aldehyde production.
Researchers from the Organocatalysis Research Group at the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, led by Tibor Soós, have made a groundbreaking advance in this area. Their study, recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS)1, one of the most prestigious chemistry journals, presents the discovery of a novel, metal-free catalyst that enables the highly selective and efficient partial reduction of esters to aldehydes. This innovative approach solves many of the issues that have plagued previous methods, providing a reliable and scalable solution for chemists.
Since its release, the publication has become the most-read article in the journal2,3, drawing widespread attention with over 14 500 reads in just two weeks, highlighting not only the importance of their discovery but also its immediate relevance to both academia and industry.

The team (Ádám Dudás, Ádám Gyömöre, Bence Balázs Mészáros, Stefánia Gondár, Renáta Adamik, Dániel Fegyverneki and Tibor Soós), in collaboration with researchers from Eötvös Loránd University and industrial partners from Provivi and Aldexchem, demonstrated the catalyst’s broad applicability. Moreover, they showcased its practical value by streamlining the synthesis of a molecule called ALC-0315, a critical component in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Beyond pharmaceuticals, the catalyst’s impact was extended to agriculture as well: it has enabled the industrial-scale synthesis of highly relevant pheromones (against the rice stem borer) by the U.S.-based company Provivi. These pheromones, now produced in industrial, half-ton scale, provide an environmentally friendly solution for pest control, reducing the need for harmful chemical pesticides.
This discovery is therefore not only a basic research result, but also has significant innovation potential. The know-how was purchased from the HUN-REN RCNS by AldexChem. This company was established by seasoned chemists and business developers with extensive experience in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The company further advanced the acquired know-how of the HUN-REN RCNS, filed several patents and licensed this technology to Provivi. These efforts enabled the rapid translation of the laboratory invention to industrial application, which was achieved within two years rather than decades, also underscoring the transformative potential of the discovered methodology. All in all, the invented catalysts have promises to revolutionize the production of aldehydes, paving the way for safer, more efficient, and sustainable chemical processes that also support greener and sustainable agricultural production.
1 Dudás Ádám, Gyömöre Ádám, Mészáros Bence Balázs, Gondár Stefánia, Adamik Renáta, Fegyverneki Dániel, Papp Dávid, Otte Konrad Bernhard, Ayala Sergio Jr., Daru János, Répási József és Soós Tibor: Selective Reduction of Esters to Access Aldehydes Using Fiddler Crab-Type Boranes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 1112–1122. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c14596.
2 https://axial.acs.org/cross-disciplinary-concepts/trending-research-10-most-read-chemistry-articles-of-december-2024
3 https://pubs.acs.org/action/showMostReadArticles?journalCode=jacsat