Introduction
<P>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]
</P><P>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]
</P><P>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.</P>
