Abstract
Various aromatic iodination methodologies have been examined, with regard to the incorporation of radioisotopes of iodine into pharmaceutical molecules. The thesis is divided into six chapters: Chapter One presents a literature survey of applications of iodine isotopes in nuclear medicine, and an overview of the methodologies which have been used to incorporate iodine isotopes into aromatic systems. Subsequent chapters describe work carried out in specific areas. Iodination via thalliation and mercuriation is dealt with in Chapter Two, while Chapter Three is concerned with some oxidative iodination reactions, principally those due to Radner and Sugiyama. The oxidation of iodine by electrochemical means is the subject of Chapter Four, which describes experiments conducted with the reactive positive iodine species so produced. This work is extended in Chapter Five by using electrochemically generated positive iodine in the demetallation of silylated arenes. In the final chapter. Chapter Six, the utility of the electrochemical method is further examined by applying it to some substrates of biological significance. General conclusions are then made, considering all the various iodination techniques.