Catalytic quantities of phenyllithium (PhLi) have been found to initiate novel 5-exo cycloisomerization of a variety of structurally diverse unsaturated organoiodides. The isomerization reaction appears to be a process of broad synthetic utility for the preparation of iodomethyl-substituted five-membered rings. Primary, secondary, tertiary, or aryl iodides tethered to a suitably positioned carbon-carbon π-bond are converted cleanly to their ...
