Mild and efficient method for the cleavage of cyclic and acyclic ethers by iodine under solvent-free conditions

Ethers undergo smooth cleavage with acyl chlorides in the presence of a catalytic amount of elemental iodine under extremely mild conditions to give the corresponding halo esters. This new procedure offers significant advantages such as high conversions, short reaction times and enhanced selectivity together with mild reaction conditions, which makes it an attractive strategy.