IODINE CATALYSIS GOES GREEN.

The article focuses on a study by Muhammet Uyanik and Kazuaki Ishihara of Nagoya University which developed an environmentally friendly catalyst to build 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran motifs through asymmetric oxidative cyclization of ketophenols. Iodine was used by the research team to sidestep the toxic heavy metals needed to build these motifs. The team has also performed cycloetherification using various aromatically substituted ammonium molecules. Green chemist Wei Zhang notes that this reaction is green due to its atom economy.