Synthetic application of water-soluble hypervalent iodine reagents in aqueous media

Along with the vigorous development of hypervalent iodine chemistry, water-soluble hypervalent iodine reagents have received considerable attentions in recent years. In order to obtain water-soluble hypervalent iodine reagents, two strategies have been employed including introduction of hydrophilic functional groups onto the phenyl ring and formation of complex of iodosylbenzene with crown ether. And, it is observed that four kinds of hypervalent iodine reagents exhibit more or less solubility in water including hypervalent iodine reagents containing hydrophilic ligands, diaryliodonium salts, oligomeric iodosylbenzene sulfate, and iodylbenzene and its derivatives. In this review, we summarize these water-soluble hypervalent iodine reagents and their broad synthetic applications in aqueous media.