By Irene Hsiao
In "Isolable iodosylarene and iodoxyarene adducts of Co and their O-atom transfer and C–H activation reactivity," published on 23 April 2018 in Chemical Science, Ethan Hill and Margaret Kelty, members of John Anderson's laboratory, investigate common reagents used as oxygen donors in the synthesis of transition metal oxo complexes, compounds that feature prominently in renewable energy and biology. When bound to a metal center, iodosylarenes have long been believed to be unstable and reactive. Now postdoc Hill, graduate student Kelty, and Anderson have found a way to isolate and characterize these unusual intermediates. They found that functions typically attributed to transition metal oxo complexes, such as C-H hydroxylation and oxygen atom transfer, can also be carried out by their preceding intermediate. This observation challenges our understanding of the formation and reactivity of transiently generated transition metal oxo complexes, particularly in catalytic processes with iodosylarene reagents as the net oxygen donor.