ALKYNYL(PHENYL)IODONIUM AND ALKENYL(PHENYL)IODONIUM COMPOUNDS

Compounds with highly coordinated, polyvalent main-group elements represent an interesting alternative to the many well-known transition-metal complexes. Among the oldest and best known stable examples of such organic molecules are the iodine(III) compounds. Diaryliodonium species, Ar2IX, for example, have been known for over a hundred years and play an important role in lithography. Likewise, acetylenes and olefins are among the oldest, most important, and most valuable compounds in chemistry. Besides simple hydrocarbon alkenes and alkynes, numerous functionalized derivatives are also known and widely employed in organic chemistry. Despite the ubiquity and prominance of both IIII species and olefins and acetylenes, the combination of these two types of functional groups in a single molecular unit, namely compounds with polyvalent iodine and at least one alkyne or olefin residue, was unknown until recently. The successful preparations of simple alkynyl- and alkenyl-(phenyl)iodonium species during the 1980s has resulted in a renaissance in both acetylene and IIII chemistry. These alkynyliodonium compounds readily undergo nucleophilic substitution on the alkyne moiety (S(N)-A reactions) which are difficult with other substrates. The application of a wide variety of nucleophiles in this reaction resulted in diverse functionalized alkynes including previously unknown acetylenic carboxylates, sulfonates, and phosphates. These are excellent substrates for cycloaddition reactions as well as numerous other interesting chemical transformations.