An environmentally friendly preparation of iodohydrins from alkenes mediated by clay-minerals

iodohydrins are useful intermediates in organic synthesis for the preparation of epoxides. herein is reported the preparation of iodohydrins in good yields by the reaction of alkenes (ciclohexene, styrene, a-methylstyrene, and 1-octene) with iodine and water at room temperature, in presence of acid commercial clays (k-10 and ksf) and natural brazilian clays (f-101 and f-117), being the best results obtained with brazilian clays (61-90%). the xrd results confirmed that the clays belong to the smectite clay-mineral group and k-10, ksf and f-117 have other clay-minerals in their structures.