Hypercoordinate iodine(III) promoted reactions and catalysis: an update on current mechanistic understanding

Mild and environment friendly hypercoordinate iodine compounds exhibit promising reactivities resembling that of transition metal catalysts. Hypercoordinate iodine reagents or catalysts are increasingly been employed in contemporary organic synthesis. However, mechanistic insights on such reactions continue to remain rather limited. Recent advances in the mechanistic understanding on a selected set of reactions involving hypercoordinate iodine form the main theme of this review. An overview of bonding, reactivity, and mechanistic insights on iodine( III ) reactions such as α ‐functionalization of carbonyl compounds, alkynylation, amination, CH functionalization, phenol dearomatization, and trifluoromethylation have been described. In keeping with the current practices in mechanistic studies, we have maintained an interdisciplinary flavor in this compilation by providing a balanced view of computational and experimental understanding on the burgeoning domain of hypercoordinate iodine mediated reactions and catalysis. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2017, 7:e1299. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1299 This article is categorized under: Structure and Mechanism > Reaction Mechanisms and Catalysis