Substituent-controlled, mild oxidative fluorination of iodoarenes: synthesis and structural study of aryl I(iii)- and I(v)-fluorides

We report a mild approach to the synthesis of difluoro(aryl)-λ(3)-iodanes (aryl-IF(2) compounds) and tetrafluoro(aryl)-λ(5)-iodanes (aryl-IF(4) compounds) using trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCICA) and potassium fluoride (KF). Under these reaction conditions, selective access to either the I(iii)- or I(v)-derivatives is predictable based solely on the substitution pattern of the iodoarene starting material. Moreover, the discovery of this TCICA/KF approach prompted detailed dynamic NMR, kinetic, computational, and crystallographic studies on the relationship between the IF(2) group and the ortho-substituents on carefully designed probe molecules. It was during these experiments that the role of the ortho-substituent in inhibiting further oxidative fluorination of I(iii)-compounds to I(v)-compounds during the reaction with TCICA and KF was revealed. Additionally, a notable exception to this empirical trend is discussed herein.