The reactivity of benzyl hypervalent iodine intermediates was explored in congruence with the reductive iodonio-Claisen rearrangement (RICR) to show that there may be an underlying mechanism which expands the reasoning behind the previously known C-C bond-forming reaction. By rationalizing the hypervalent iodine's metal-like properties it was concluded that a transmetallation mechanism could be occurring with metalloid groups such as silicon and boron. Hypervalent iodine reagents such as Zefirov's reagent, cyclic iodonium reagents, iodosobenzene/BF3, and PhI(OAc)2/BF3 or triflate-based activators were tested. A desirable facet of the reported reaction is that iodine(I) is incorporated into the product thus providing greater atom economy and a valuable functional group handle for further transformations. The altering of the RICR's ortho-selectivity to form para-selective products with benzyl hypervalent iodine intermediates suggests a mechanism that involves hypervalent iodine-guided electrophilic substitution (HIGES).
Keywords: electrophilic aromatic substitution; hypernucleofugality; hypervalent iodine; iodonio-Claisen; transmetallation.