In Situ Formed IIII-Based Reagent for the Electrophilic ortho-Chlorination of Phenols and Phenol Ethers: The Use of PIFA-AlCl3 System

A new and in situ formed reagent generated by mixing PIFA {bis[(trifluoroacetoxy)iodobenzene]} and AlCl3 was introduced in the organic synthesis for the direct and highly regioselective ortho-chlorination of phenols and phenol ethers. An efficient electrophilic chlorination for these electron-rich arenes as well as the scope of the reaction are described herein. An easy, practical, and open-flask reaction allowed us to introduce a chlorine atom, which is a highly important functional group in organic synthesis. The reproducibility of our method has been demonstrated on gram-scale by carrying out the reaction in 6-bromo-2-naphthol. This halogenation reaction also proceeds in excellent conditions by first preparing the iodine(III)-based chlorinating reagent. Our new chlorinating reagent can be stored at least for two weeks at 4 degrees C without losing its reactivity.