7-Methyl-1H-indazole (2 g, 15.15 mmol) was added potassium hydroxide (KOH, 2.12 g, 37.88 mmol) and iodine (I2, 7.7 g, 30.3 mmol) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, 40 mL) and the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 4 hours. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was poured into water (200 mL) and extracted with ethyl acetate (EA, 200 mL). The organic layer was washed sequentially with saturated sodium sulfite solution (100 mL), water (200 mL) and saturated brine (200 mL), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), and concentrated under reduced pressure to afford the target product 3-iodo-7-methyl-1H-indazole (3.6 g, 92% yield) as a yellow solid.
