Metallic Salt-Catalyzed Direct Indium Insertion into Alkyl Iodides and Their Applications in Cross-Coupling Reactions

An efficient method for the synthesis of alkyl indium reagents via an indium(iii) or lead(ii) halide-catalyzed direct insertion of indium into alkyl iodides is developed. NMR and ESI-MS analyses indicated the formation of a mixture of an alkyl indium dihalide (RInX2) and a dialkyl indium halide (R2InX).