Effective and selective iodofunctionalisation of organic molecules in water using the iodine-hydrogen peroxide tandem

Bromination and chlorination of aromatic rings by electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions are easily achieved, but fluorination and iodination are difficult to achieve. Fluorine is so reactive that its reaction with benzene is difficult to control, resulting in poor yields of monofluoroaromatic products. To address this, Selectfluor reagent is used as a fluorine source in which a fluorine atom is bonded to a positively charged nitrogen.

In the presence of organic peroxides, the addition of hydrogen bromide to an alkene yields the isomer that is not predicted by Markovnikov’s rule. For example, the addition of hydrogen bromide to 2-methylpropene in the presence of peroxides gives 1-bromo-2-methylpropane. This addition reaction proceeds via a free radical mechanism, which reverses the regioselectivity. The free radical reaction mechanism involves three stages: initiation, propagation, and termination.

Alkenes are converted to 1,2-diols or glycols through a process called dihydroxylation. It involves the addition of two hydroxyl groups across the double bond with two different stereochemical approaches, namely anti and syn. Dihydroxylation using osmium tetroxide progresses with syn stereochemistry.

A significant aspect of hydroboration–oxidation is the regio- and stereochemical outcome of the reaction.
Hydroboration proceeds in a concerted fashion with the attack of borane on the π bond, giving a cyclic four-centered transition state. The –BH2 group is bonded to the less substituted carbon and –H to the more substituted carbon. The concerted nature requires the simultaneous addition of –H and –BH2 across the same face of the alkene giving syn stereochemistry.

Iodometry and iodimetry are analytical methods used to determine the concentration of oxidizing or reducing agents using iodine. In iodometric titrations, the oxidizing analyte solution is usually acidified and treated with an excess of iodide ions, which generates an equivalent amount of iodine in equilibrium with triiodide. The released iodine is subsequently titrated directly against a standardized reducing agent. As the dilute iodine color becomes pale yellow, a few drops of freshly...

In addition to the oxymercuration–demercuration method, which converts the alkenes to alcohols with Markovnikov orientation, a complementary hydroboration-oxidation method yields the anti-Markovnikov product. The hydroboration reaction, discovered in 1959 by H.C. Brown, involves the addition of a B–H bond of borane to an alkene giving an organoborane intermediate. The oxidation of this intermediate with basic hydrogen peroxide forms an alcohol.