Hypervalent Iodine Reagents: Thiol Derivatization with a Tetrafluoroethoxy Coumarin Residue for UV Absorbance Recognition

A new hypervalent iodine reagent (5) based on 1,2-dihydro-3,3-dimethyl-1,2-benziodoxole containing a 4-methyl-7-tetrafluoroethoxycoumarin unit as a specific UV absorber was prepared and fully characterized, including X-ray crystal structural analysis. The high reactivity of this compound towards thiols has been exploited for the selective tagging of several targets with the UV chromophore coumarin, including e.g. glutathione.