The Electrochemical Iodination of Electron-Deficient Arenes.

The iodination of electron-deficient arenes and heteroarenes is a long-standing problem in organic synthesis. Herein we describe the electrochemical iodination in nitromethane with Bu4NI as iodine source and supporting electrolyte under Lewis acid-free conditions in the presence of small amounts of chloride anions. The electrochemically generated reagent could be applied for the iodination of halogenated arenes, aromatic aldehydes, acids, esters, ketones, as well as nitroarenes to afford the products in good to excellent yields.