Molecular iodine: An efficient and environment-friendly catalyst for the synthesis of calix[4]resorcinarenes

Iodine catalyzes the cyclocondensation of various aldehydes with resorcinol to give tetrameric cyclic products, resorcinarenes. Through the reaction of resorcinol with aromatic aldehydes, the product is obtained as a mixture of two isomers, the all-cis isomer (rccc) and the cis-trans-trans isomer (rctt), whereas a single diastereomer, the all-cis, is formed with aliphatic aldehydes. Besides excellent isolated yields, the use of iodine makes this procedure simple, convenient, cost-effective and practical.