Introduction
The first recorded attempt at making an organocopper was Buckton’s use of diethylzinc on CuCl in the 1850s.
[1]
From that time, copper halides and consequently CuI have found widespread use in synthetic organic chemistry. Indeed, copper iodide, also called cuprous iodide, acts as a useful precursor of organocopper compounds which due to their unique chemoselectivity and reactivity occupy a special place in organic synthesis.
[2-4]
Furthermore, the effectiveness of CuI as catalyst or co-catalyst for cross-coupling reactions has been widely reported in the literature.
[5]
[6]
The utilisation of CuI also encompasses a broad range of chemical transformations like construction of heterocycles,
[7-9]
iodination reations,
[10]
click chemistry
[11]
or multi-component coupling reactions.
[12-14]
CuI is commercially available as an off-white solid but samples with time are often tan due to impurities. A dissolution-precipitation process with water in the presence of NaI or KI is used to purify CuI.
[15]
[16]
The colourless CuI is then stored under argon and protected from light to avoid decomposition.
