Direct iodination of indanone and tetralone derivatives by elemental iodine activated by Selectfluor™ F-TEDA-BF4

Derivatives of indan-1-one and 3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one bearing hydroxy or methoxy substituent on the aromatic ring were efficiently iodinated regioselectively at the α carbonyl position using elemental iodine activated by 1-chloromethyl-4-fluoro-1,4-diazoniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane bis(tetrafluoroborate) (Selectfluor™ F-TEDA-BF4) in methanol.