High-yielding, versatile, and practical [Rh(III)Cp*]-catalyzed ortho bromination and iodination of arenes

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.

Halogenation is the addition of chlorine or bromine across the double bond in an alkene to yield a vicinal dihalide. The reaction occurs in the presence of inert and non-nucleophilic solvents, such as methylene chloride, chloroform, or carbon tetrachloride.
Consider the bromination of cyclopentene. Molecular bromine is polarized in the proximity of the π electrons of cyclopentene. An electrophilic bromine atom adds across the double bond, forming a cyclic bromonium ion intermediate.

Chlorination and bromination are important classes of electrophilic aromatic substitutions, where benzene reacts with chlorine or bromine in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst to give halogenated substitution products. A Lewis acid such as aluminium chloride or ferric chloride catalyzes the chlorination, and ferric bromide catalyzes the bromination reactions. During the bromination of alkenes, bromine polarizes and becomes electrophilic. However, in the bromination of benzene, the bromine...

Introduction
Halogenation is another class of electrophilic addition reactions where a halogen molecule gets added across a π bond. In alkynes, the presence of two π bonds allows for the addition of two equivalents of halogens (bromine or chlorine). The addition of the first halogen molecule forms a trans-dihaloalkene as the major product and the cis isomer as the minor product. Subsequent addition of the second equivalent yields the tetrahalide.

In organic synthesis, the formation of products can be altered by changing the reaction conditions. For example, a dibromo addition product is formed when propene is treated with bromine at room temperature. In contrast, propene undergoes allylic substitution in non-polar solvents at high temperatures to give 3-bromopropene. In order to avoid the addition reaction, the bromine concentration must be kept as low as possible throughout the reaction. This can be achieved using N-bromosuccinimide...

All ortho–para directors, excluding halogens, are activating groups. These groups donate electrons to the ring, making the ring carbons electron-rich. Consequently, the reactivity of the aromatic ring towards electrophilic substitution increases. For instance, the nitration of anisole is about 10,000 times faster than the nitration of benzene. The electron-donating effect of the methoxy group in anisole activates the ortho and para positions on the ring and stabilizes the corresponding...