Most of the polyvalent organoiodine compounds derive from iodoarenes, which are released in stoichiometric amounts in any reaction mediated by λ3- or λ5-iodanes. In parallel to the development of solid-supported reagents or reactions catalytic in iodine, a third strategy has emerged to address this issue in terms of sustainability. The atom-economy of transformations involving stoichiometric amounts of λ3- or λ5-iodanes, thus, has been improved by designing tandem reactions that allows for incorporating the aryl motif into the products through a subsequent one-pot nucleophilic addition or catalytic coupling reaction. This review summarizes the main achievements reported in this area.
Keywords: atom-economy; couplings; hypervalent iodine; oxidation; tandem reactions.