t-Butyl Hypoiodite has not been isolated in pure form and its precise nature is uncertain. Reagents considered to be t-butyl hypoiodite have been commonly prepared by the reaction of t-Butyl Hypochlorite with either Iodine or metal iodide salts, or by the reaction of Potassium t-Butoxide with iodine. Tanner and co-workers have shown that the reagent generated by the first of these methods is quite different to that formed by the other two methods. Although the reagent formed by the latter two methods can be thought of as t-BuOI, the actual structure of the reagent is uncertain and there may be slight differences in the composition of different batches. This situation is amply illustrated for the reaction of t-BuOCl with AgI (eqs 1-4) The scheme adequately explains the spectroscopic and molecular weight measurements of the product formed in this way, and also the liberation of varying amounts of iodine (eq 4).
