Iodine

Iodine, ₅₃I
Iodine
Pronunciation	/ˈaɪədaɪn, -dɪn, -diːn/ (EYE-ə-dyne, -⁠din, -⁠deen)
Appearance	lustrous metallic gray solid, black/violet liquid, violet gas
Standard atomic weight Ar°(I)
	126.90447±0.00003; 126.90±0.01 (abridged);
Iodine in the periodic table
	tellurium ← iodine → xenon
kJ/mol
Heat of vaporisation	(I2) 41.57 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity	(I2) 54.44 J/(mol·K)
Atomic properties
diamagnetic
Molar magnetic susceptibility	−88.7×10−6 cm3/mol (298 K)
Bulk modulus	7.7 GPa
CAS Number	7553-56-2
History
Discovery and first isolation	Bernard Courtois (1811)
Isotopes of iodine v; e;
	Category: Iodine; view; talk; edit; \| references

Iodine is a

standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at 114 °C (237 °F), and boils to a violet gas at 184 °C (363 °F). The element was discovered by the French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811 and was named two years later by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, after the Ancient Greek

Ιώδης 'violet-coloured'.

Iodine occurs in many oxidation states, including

intellectual disabilities.^[6]

The dominant producers of iodine today are

catalyst in the industrial production of acetic acid and some polymers

.

It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.^[7]

History

In 1811, iodine was discovered by French chemist

nitre beds required sodium carbonate, which could be isolated from seaweed collected on the coasts of Normandy and Brittany. To isolate the sodium carbonate, seaweed was burned and the ash washed with water. The remaining waste was destroyed by adding sulfuric acid. Courtois once added excessive sulfuric acid and a cloud of purple vapour rose. He noted that the vapour crystallised on cold surfaces, making dark crystals.^[10] Courtois suspected that this material was a new element but lacked funding to pursue it further.^[11]

Courtois gave samples to his friends,

Royal Society of London stating that he had identified a new element.^[17] Arguments erupted between Davy and Gay-Lussac over who identified iodine first, but both scientists acknowledged Courtois as the first to isolate the element.^[11]

In 1873 the French medical researcher Casimir Joseph Davaine (1812–1882) discovered the antiseptic action of iodine.^[18] Antonio Grossich (1849–1926), an Istrian-born surgeon, was among the first to use sterilisation of the operative field. In 1908, he introduced tincture of iodine as a way to rapidly sterilise the human skin in the surgical field.^[19]

In early periodic tables, iodine was often given the symbol J, for Jod, its name in German.^[20]

Properties

Round bottom flask filled with violet iodine vapour

Iodine vapour in a flask.

Iodine is the fourth

periodic trends, it is the weakest oxidising agent among the stable halogens: it has the lowest electronegativity among them, just 2.66 on the Pauling scale (compare fluorine, chlorine, and bromine at 3.98, 3.16, and 2.96 respectively; astatine continues the trend with an electronegativity of 2.2). Elemental iodine hence forms diatomic molecules with chemical formula I₂, where two iodine atoms share a pair of electrons in order to each achieve a stable octet for themselves; at high temperatures, these diatomic molecules reversibly dissociate a pair of iodine atoms. Similarly, the iodide anion, I⁻, is the strongest reducing agent among the stable halogens, being the most easily oxidised back to diatomic I₂.^[21] (Astatine goes further, being indeed unstable as At⁻ and readily oxidised to At⁰ or At⁺.)^[22]

The halogens darken in colour as the group is descended: fluorine is a very pale yellow, chlorine is greenish-yellow, bromine is reddish-brown, and iodine is violet.

Elemental iodine is slightly soluble in water, with one gram dissolving in 3450 ml at 20 °C and 1280 ml at 50 °C;

Lewis bases; on the other hand, nonpolar solutions are violet, the color of iodine vapour.^[23] Charge-transfer complexes form when iodine is dissolved in polar solvents, hence changing the colour. Iodine is violet when dissolved in carbon tetrachloride and saturated hydrocarbons but deep brown in alcohols and amines, solvents that form charge-transfer adducts.^[25]

I₂•PPh₃ charge-transfer complexes in CH₂Cl₂. From left to right: (1) I₂ dissolved in dichloromethane – no CT complex. (2) A few seconds after excess PPh₃ was added – CT complex is forming. (3) One minute later after excess PPh₃ was added, the CT complex [Ph₃PI]⁺I⁻ has been formed. (4) Immediately after excess I₂ was added, which contains [Ph₃PI]⁺[I₃]⁻.^[26]

The melting and boiling points of iodine are the highest among the halogens, conforming to the increasing trend down the group, since iodine has the largest electron cloud among them that is the most easily polarised, resulting in its molecules having the strongest

ionisation energy, lowest electron affinity, lowest electronegativity and lowest reactivity of the halogens.^[21]

Structure of solid iodine

The interhalogen bond in diiodine is the weakest of all the halogens. As such, 1% of a sample of gaseous iodine at atmospheric pressure is dissociated into iodine atoms at 575 °C. Temperatures greater than 750 °C are required for fluorine, chlorine, and bromine to dissociate to a similar extent. Most bonds to iodine are weaker than the analogous bonds to the lighter halogens.

orthorhombic crystalline iodine, which has the same crystal structure as chlorine and bromine. (The record is held by iodine's neighbour xenon: the Xe–Xe bond length is 308.71 pm.)^[28] As such, within the iodine molecule, significant electronic interactions occur with the two next-nearest neighbours of each atom, and these interactions give rise, in bulk iodine, to a shiny appearance and semiconducting properties.^[21] Iodine is a two-dimensional semiconductor with a band gap of 1.3 eV (125 kJ/mol): it is a semiconductor in the plane of its crystalline layers and an insulator in the perpendicular direction.^[21]

Isotopes

Of the thirty-seven known isotopes of iodine, only one occurs in nature, iodine-127. The others are radioactive and have half-lives too short to be primordial. As such, iodine is both monoisotopic and mononuclidic and its atomic weight is known to great precision, as it is a constant of nature.^[21]

The longest-lived of the radioactive isotopes of iodine is iodine-129, which has a half-life of 15.7 million years, decaying via beta decay to stable xenon-129.^[29] Some iodine-129 was formed along with iodine-127 before the formation of the Solar System, but it has by now completely decayed away, making it an extinct radionuclide that is nevertheless still useful in dating the history of the early Solar System or very old groundwaters, due to its mobility in the environment. Its former presence may be determined from an excess of its daughter xenon-129.^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]^[34] Traces of iodine-129 still exist today, as it is also a cosmogenic nuclide, formed from cosmic ray spallation of atmospheric xenon: these traces make up 10⁻¹⁴ to 10⁻¹⁰ of all terrestrial iodine. It also occurs from open-air nuclear testing, and is not hazardous because of its very long half-life, the longest of all fission products. At the peak of thermonuclear testing in the 1960s and 1970s, iodine-129 still made up only about 10⁻⁷ of all terrestrial iodine.^[35] Excited states of iodine-127 and iodine-129 are often used in Mössbauer spectroscopy.^[21]

The other iodine radioisotopes have much shorter half-lives, no longer than days.

radiogenic thyroid cancer in later life. Other risks include the possibility of non-cancerous growths and thyroiditis.^[38]

The usual means of protection against the negative effects of iodine-131 is by saturating the thyroid gland with stable iodine-127 in the form of potassium iodide tablets, taken daily for optimal prophylaxis.^[39] However, iodine-131 may also be used for medicinal purposes in radiation therapy for this very reason, when tissue destruction is desired after iodine uptake by the tissue.^[40] Iodine-131 is also used as a radioactive tracer.^[41]^[42]^[43]^[44]

Chemistry and compounds

Halogen bond energies (kJ/mol)^[23]
X	XX	HX	BX₃	AlX₃	CX₄
F	159	574	645	582	456
Cl	243	428	444	427	327
Br	193	363	368	360	272
I	151	294	272	285	239

Iodine is quite reactive, but it is much less reactive than the other halogens. For example, while chlorine gas will halogenate

rhenium hexachloride, but with bromine it forms only rhenium pentabromide and iodine can achieve only rhenium tetraiodide.^[21] By the same token, however, since iodine has the lowest ionisation energy among the halogens and is the most easily oxidised of them, it has a more significant cationic chemistry and its higher oxidation states are rather more stable than those of bromine and chlorine, for example in iodine heptafluoride.^[23]

Charge-transfer complexes

The iodine molecule, I₂, dissolves in CCl₄ and aliphatic hydrocarbons to give bright violet solutions. In these solvents the absorption band maximum occurs in the 520 – 540 nm region and is assigned to a $π$ ^* to σ^* transition. When I₂ reacts with Lewis bases in these solvents a blue shift in I₂ peak is seen and the new peak (230 – 330 nm) arises that is due to the formation of adducts, which are referred to as charge-transfer complexes.[45]

Hydrogen iodide

The simplest compound of iodine is

iodination reactions in the laboratory, it does not have large-scale industrial uses, unlike the other hydrogen halides. Commercially, it is usually made by reacting iodine with hydrogen sulfide or hydrazine:^[46]

2 I₂ + N₂H₄ 4 HI + N₂

At room temperature, it is a colourless gas, like all of the hydrogen halides except

bond dissociation energy is likewise the smallest of the hydrogen halides, at 295 kJ/mol.^[47]

Aqueous hydrogen iodide is known as hydroiodic acid, which is a strong acid. Hydrogen iodide is exceptionally soluble in water: one litre of water will dissolve 425 litres of hydrogen iodide, and the saturated solution has only four water molecules per molecule of hydrogen iodide.^[48] Commercial so-called "concentrated" hydroiodic acid usually contains 48–57% HI by mass; the solution forms an azeotrope with boiling point 126.7 °C at 56.7 g HI per 100 g solution. Hence hydroiodic acid cannot be concentrated past this point by evaporation of water.^[47]

Unlike hydrogen fluoride, anhydrous liquid hydrogen iodide is difficult to work with as a solvent, because its boiling point is low, it has a small liquid range, its permittivity is low and it does not dissociate appreciably into H₂I⁺ and HI⁻
₂ ions – the latter, in any case, are much less stable than the bifluoride ions (HF⁻
₂) due to the very weak hydrogen bonding between hydrogen and iodine, though its salts with very large and weakly polarising cations such as Cs⁺ and NR⁺
₄ (R = Me, Et, Buⁿ) may still be isolated. Anhydrous hydrogen iodide is a poor solvent, able to dissolve only small molecular compounds such as nitrosyl chloride and phenol, or salts with very low lattice energies such as tetraalkylammonium halides.^[47]

Other binary iodine compounds

With the exception of the

EsI₃ is known) are known to form binary compounds with iodine. Until 1990, nitrogen triiodide^[49] was only known as an ammonia adduct. Ammonia-free NI₃ was found to be isolable at –196 °C but spontaneously decomposes at 0 °C.^[50] For thermodynamic reasons related to electronegativity of the elements, neutral sulfur and selenium iodides that are stable at room temperature are also nonexistent, although S₂I₂ and SI₂ are stable up to 183 and 9 K, respectively. As of 2022, no neutral binary selenium iodide has been unambiguously identified (at any temperature).^[51] Sulfur- and selenium-iodine polyatomic cations (e.g., [S₂I₄²⁺][AsF₆^–]₂ and [Se₂I₄²⁺][Sb₂F₁₁^–]₂) have been prepared and characterized crystallographically.^[52]

Given the large size of the iodide anion and iodine's weak oxidising power, high oxidation states are difficult to achieve in binary iodides, the maximum known being in the pentaiodides of

aluminium(III) iodide at 230 °C to give molybdenum(II) iodide. An example involving halogen exchange is given below, involving the reaction of tantalum(V) chloride with excess aluminium(III) iodide at 400 °C to give tantalum(V) iodide:^[53]

{\ce {3TaCl5 + {\underset {(excess)}{5AlI3}}-> 3TaI5 + 5AlCl3}}

Lower iodides may be produced either through thermal decomposition or disproportionation, or by reducing the higher iodide with hydrogen or a metal, for example:[53]

{\ce {TaI5{}+Ta->[{\text{thermal gradient}}][{\ce {630^{\circ }C\ ->\ 575^{\circ }C}}]Ta6I14}}

Most metal iodides with the metal in low oxidation states (+1 to +3) are ionic. Nonmetals tend to form covalent molecular iodides, as do metals in high oxidation states from +3 and above. Both ionic and covalent iodides are known for metals in oxidation state +3 (e.g.

scandium iodide is mostly ionic, but aluminium iodide is not). Ionic iodides MI_n tend to have the lowest melting and boiling points among the halides MX_n of the same element, because the electrostatic forces of attraction between the cations and anions are weakest for the large iodide anion. In contrast, covalent iodides tend to instead have the highest melting and boiling points among the halides of the same element, since iodine is the most polarisable of the halogens and, having the most electrons among them, can contribute the most to van der Waals forces. Naturally, exceptions abound in intermediate iodides where one trend gives way to the other. Similarly, solubilities in water of predominantly ionic iodides (e.g. potassium and calcium) are the greatest among ionic halides of that element, while those of covalent iodides (e.g. silver) are the lowest of that element. In particular, silver iodide is very insoluble in water and its formation is often used as a qualitative test for iodine.^[53]

Iodine halides

The halogens form many binary,

diamagnetic interhalogen compounds with stoichiometries XY, XY₃, XY₅, and XY₇ (where X is heavier than Y), and iodine is no exception. Iodine forms all three possible diatomic interhalogens, a trifluoride and trichloride, as well as a pentafluoride and, exceptionally among the halogens, a heptafluoride. Numerous cationic and anionic derivatives are also characterised, such as the wine-red or bright orange compounds of ICl⁺
₂ and the dark brown or purplish black compounds of I₂Cl⁺. Apart from these, some pseudohalides are also known, such as cyanogen iodide (ICN), iodine thiocyanate (ISCN), and iodine azide (IN₃).^[54]

Iodine monochloride

salicyclic acid, since when iodine chloride undergoes homolytic dissociation, chlorine and iodine are produced and the former is more reactive. However, iodine chloride in tetrachloromethane solution results in iodination being the main reaction, since now heterolytic fission of the I–Cl bond occurs and I⁺ attacks phenol as an electrophile. However, iodine monobromide tends to brominate phenol even in tetrachloromethane solution because it tends to dissociate into its elements in solution, and bromine is more reactive than iodine.^[54] When liquid, iodine monochloride and iodine monobromide dissociate into I
₂X⁺
and IX⁻
₂ anions (X = Cl, Br); thus they are significant conductors of electricity and can be used as ionising solvents.^[54]

Iodine trifluoride (IF₃) is an unstable yellow solid that decomposes above −28 °C. It is thus little-known. It is difficult to produce because fluorine gas would tend to oxidise iodine all the way to the pentafluoride; reaction at low temperature with xenon difluoride is necessary. Iodine trichloride, which exists in the solid state as the planar dimer I₂Cl₆, is a bright yellow solid, synthesised by reacting iodine with liquid chlorine at −80 °C; caution is necessary during purification because it easily dissociates to iodine monochloride and chlorine and hence can act as a strong chlorinating agent. Liquid iodine trichloride conducts electricity, possibly indicating dissociation to ICl⁺
₂ and ICl⁻
₄ ions.^[55]

Iodine pentafluoride (IF₅), a colourless, volatile liquid, is the most thermodynamically stable iodine fluoride, and can be made by reacting iodine with fluorine gas at room temperature. It is a fluorinating agent, but is mild enough to store in glass apparatus. Again, slight electrical conductivity is present in the liquid state because of dissociation to IF⁺
₄ and IF⁻
₆. The pentagonal bipyramidal iodine heptafluoride (IF₇) is an extremely powerful fluorinating agent, behind only chlorine trifluoride, chlorine pentafluoride, and bromine pentafluoride among the interhalogens: it reacts with almost all the elements even at low temperatures, fluorinates Pyrex glass to form iodine(VII) oxyfluoride (IOF₅), and sets carbon monoxide on fire.^[56]

Iodine oxides and oxoacids

Structure of iodine pentoxide

hygroscopic iodine pentoxide (I₂O₅) has been known since its formation in 1813 by Gay-Lussac and Davy. It is most easily made by the dehydration of iodic acid (HIO₃), of which it is the anhydride. It will quickly oxidise carbon monoxide completely to carbon dioxide at room temperature, and is thus a useful reagent in determining carbon monoxide concentration. It also oxidises nitrogen oxide, ethylene, and hydrogen sulfide. It reacts with sulfur trioxide and peroxydisulfuryl difluoride (S₂O₆F₂) to form salts of the iodyl cation, [IO₂]⁺, and is reduced by concentrated sulfuric acids to iodosyl salts involving [IO]⁺. It may be fluorinated by fluorine, bromine trifluoride, sulfur tetrafluoride, or chloryl fluoride, resulting iodine pentafluoride, which also reacts with iodine pentoxide, giving iodine(V) oxyfluoride, IOF₃. A few other less stable oxides are known, notably I₄O₉ and I₂O₄; their structures have not been determined, but reasonable guesses are I^III(I^VO₃)₃ and [IO]⁺[IO₃]⁻ respectively.^[57]

Standard reduction potentials for aqueous I species^[58]
E°(couple)	a(H⁺) = 1 (acid)	E°(couple)	a(OH⁻) = 1 (base)
I₂/I⁻	+0.535	I₂/I⁻	+0.535
HOI/I⁻	+0.987	IO⁻/I⁻	+0.48
		IO⁻ ₃/I⁻	+0.26
HOI/I₂	+1.439	IO⁻/I₂	+0.42
IO⁻ ₃/I₂	+1.195
IO⁻ ₃/HOI	+1.134	IO⁻ ₃/IO⁻	+0.15
IO⁻ ₄/IO⁻ ₃	+1.653
H₅IO₆/IO⁻ ₃	+1.601	H ₃IO²⁻ ₆/IO⁻ ₃	+0.65

More important are the four oxoacids:

iodous acid (HIO₂), iodic acid (HIO₃), and periodic acid (HIO₄ or H₅IO₆). When iodine dissolves in aqueous solution, the following reactions occur:^[58]

I₂ + H₂O	⇌ HIO + H⁺ + I⁻	K_ac = 2.0 × 10⁻¹³ mol² l⁻²
I₂ + 2 OH⁻	⇌ IO⁻ + H₂O + I⁻	K_alk = 30 mol² l⁻²

Hypoiodous acid is unstable to disproportionation. The hypoiodite ions thus formed disproportionate immediately to give iodide and iodate:[58]

3 IO⁻ ⇌ 2 I⁻ + IO⁻
₃

K = 10²⁰

Iodous acid and iodite are even less stable and exist only as a fleeting intermediate in the oxidation of iodide to iodate, if at all.^[58] Iodates are by far the most important of these compounds, which can be made by oxidising alkali metal iodides with oxygen at 600 °C and high pressure, or by oxidising iodine with chlorates. Unlike chlorates, which disproportionate very slowly to form chloride and perchlorate, iodates are stable to disproportionation in both acidic and alkaline solutions. From these, salts of most metals can be obtained. Iodic acid is most easily made by oxidation of an aqueous iodine suspension by electrolysis or fuming nitric acid. Iodate has the weakest oxidising power of the halates, but reacts the quickest.^[59]

Many periodates are known, including not only the expected tetrahedral IO⁻
₄, but also square-pyramidal IO³⁻
₅, octahedral orthoperiodate IO⁵⁻
₆, [IO₃(OH)₃]²⁻, [I₂O₈(OH₂)]⁴⁻, and I
₂O⁴⁻
₉. They are usually made by oxidising alkaline

lead(IV) oxide as the anode) or by chlorine gas:^[60]

IO⁻
₃ + 6 OH⁻ → IO⁵⁻
₆ + 3 H₂O + 2 e⁻

IO⁻
₃ + 6 OH⁻ + Cl₂ → IO⁵⁻
₆ + 2 Cl⁻ + 3 H₂O

They are thermodymically and kinetically powerful oxidising agents, quickly oxidising Mn²⁺ to

metaperiodic acid, HIO₄. Attempting to go further does not result in the nonexistent iodine heptoxide (I₂O₇), but rather iodine pentoxide and oxygen. Periodic acid may be protonated by sulfuric acid to give the I(OH)⁺
₆ cation, isoelectronic to Te(OH)₆ and Sb(OH)⁻
₆, and giving salts with bisulfate and sulfate.^[25]

Polyiodine compounds

When iodine dissolves in strong acids, such as fuming sulfuric acid, a bright blue

paramagnetic solution including I⁺
₂ cations is formed. A solid salt of the diiodine cation may be obtained by oxidising iodine with antimony pentafluoride:^[25]

2 I₂ + 5 SbF₅ 2 I₂Sb₂F₁₁ + SbF₃

The salt I₂Sb₂F₁₁ is dark blue, and the blue tantalum analogue I₂Ta₂F₁₁ is also known. Whereas the I–I bond length in I₂ is 267 pm, that in I⁺
₂ is only 256 pm as the missing electron in the latter has been removed from an antibonding orbital, making the bond stronger and hence shorter. In fluorosulfuric acid solution, deep-blue I⁺
₂ reversibly dimerises below −60 °C, forming red rectangular diamagnetic I²⁺
₄. Other polyiodine cations are not as well-characterised, including bent dark-brown or black I⁺
₃ and centrosymmetric C_2h green or black I⁺
₅, known in the AsF⁻
₆ and AlCl⁻
₄ salts among others.^[25]^[61]

The only important polyiodide anion in aqueous solution is linear triiodide, I⁻
₃. Its formation explains why the solubility of iodine in water may be increased by the addition of potassium iodide solution:^[25]

I₂ + I⁻ ⇌ I⁻
₃ (K_eq = ~700 at 20 °C)

Many other polyiodides may be found when solutions containing iodine and iodide crystallise, such as I⁻
₅, I⁻
₉, I²⁻
₄, and I²⁻
₈, whose salts with large, weakly polarising cations such as Cs⁺ may be isolated.^[25]^[62]

Organoiodine compounds

2-iodoxybenzoic acid

Organoiodine compounds have been fundamental in the development of organic synthesis, such as in the Hofmann elimination of amines,^[63] the Williamson ether synthesis,^[64] the Wurtz coupling reaction,^[65] and in Grignard reagents.^[66]

The

methyl ketone (or another compound capable of being oxidised to a methyl ketone), as follows:^[71]

Some drawbacks of using organoiodine compounds as compared to organochlorine or organobromine compounds is the greater expense and toxicity of the iodine derivatives, since iodine is expensive and organoiodine compounds are stronger alkylating agents.[72] For example, iodoacetamide and iodoacetic acid denature proteins by irreversibly alkylating cysteine residues and preventing the reformation of disulfide linkages.^[73]

Halogen exchange to produce iodoalkanes by the

alkyl iodide by treatment with a solution of sodium iodide in acetone. Sodium iodide is soluble in acetone and sodium chloride and sodium bromide are not.^[74] The reaction is driven toward products by mass action due to the precipitation of the insoluble salt.^[75]^[76]

Occurrence and production

Iodine is the least abundant of the stable halogens, comprising only 0.46

lautarite, Ca(IO₃)₂, and dietzeite, 7Ca(IO₃)₂·8CaCrO₄.^[77] These are the minerals that occur as trace impurities in the caliche, found in Chile, whose main product is sodium nitrate. In total, they can contain at least 0.02% and at most 1% iodine by mass.^[78] Sodium iodate is extracted from the caliche and reduced to iodide by sodium bisulfite. This solution is then reacted with freshly extracted iodate, resulting in comproportionation to iodine, which may be filtered off.^[21]

The caliche was the main source of iodine in the 19th century and continues to be important today, replacing

evaporate the iodine, which is passed into an absorbing tower, where sulfur dioxide reduces the iodine. The hydrogen iodide (HI) is reacted with chlorine to precipitate the iodine. After filtering and purification the iodine is packed.^[78]^[80]

2 HI + Cl₂ → I₂↑ + 2 HCl

I₂ + 2 H₂O + SO₂ → 2 HI + H₂SO₄

2 HI + Cl₂ → I₂↓ + 2 HCl

These sources ensure that Chile and Japan are the largest producers of iodine today.[77] Alternatively, the brine may be treated with silver nitrate to precipitate out iodine as silver iodide, which is then decomposed by reaction with iron to form metallic silver and a solution of iron(II) iodide. The iodine may then be liberated by displacement with chlorine.^[81]

Applications

About half of all produced iodine goes into various organoiodine compounds, another 15% remains as the pure element, another 15% is used to form

catalysts, animal feed supplements, stabilisers, dyes, colourants and pigments, pharmaceutical, sanitation (from tincture of iodine), and photography; minor uses include smog inhibition, cloud seeding, and various uses in analytical chemistry.^[21]

Chemical analysis

Testing a seed for starch with a solution of iodine

The iodide and iodate anions are often used for quantitative volumetric analysis, for example in iodometry. Iodine and starch form a blue complex, and this reaction is often used to test for either starch or iodine and as an indicator in iodometry. The iodine test for starch is still used to detect counterfeit banknotes printed on starch-containing paper.^[82]

The iodine value is the mass of iodine in grams that is consumed by 100 grams of a chemical substance typically fats or oils. Iodine numbers are often used to determine the amount of unsaturation in fatty acids. This unsaturation is in the form of double bonds, which react with iodine compounds.

Potassium tetraiodomercurate(II), K₂HgI₄, is also known as Nessler's reagent. It is often used as a sensitive spot test for ammonia. Similarly, Mayer's reagent (potassium tetraiodomercurate(II) solution) is used as a precipitating reagent to test for alkaloids.^[83] Aqueous alkaline iodine solution is used in the iodoform test for methyl ketones.^[71]

Spectroscopy

The spectrum of the iodine molecule, I₂, consists of (not exclusively) tens of thousands of sharp spectral lines in the wavelength range 500–700 nm. It is therefore a commonly used wavelength reference (secondary standard). By measuring with a spectroscopic Doppler-free technique while focusing on one of these lines, the hyperfine structure of the iodine molecule reveals itself. A line is now resolved such that either 15 components (from even rotational quantum numbers, J_even), or 21 components (from odd rotational quantum numbers, J_odd) are measurable.^[84]

Caesium iodide and thallium-doped sodium iodide are used in crystal scintillators for the detection of gamma rays. The efficiency is high and energy dispersive spectroscopy is possible, but the resolution is rather poor.

Spacecraft propulsion

Propulsion systems employing iodine as the

GOCE satellite, or NASA's DART mission, all of which used xenon as the reaction mass. Iodine's atomic weight is only 3.3% less than that of xenon, while its first two ionisation energies average 12% less; together, these make iodine ions a promising substitute.^[85]^[86]

Use of iodine should allow more widespread application of ion-thrust technology, particularly with smaller-scale space vehicles.[86] According to the European Space Agency, "This small but potentially disruptive innovation could help to clear the skies of space junk, by enabling tiny satellites to self-destruct cheaply and easily at the end of their missions, by steering themselves into the atmosphere where they would burn up."^[87]

In early 2021, the French group ThrustMe performed an in-orbit demonstration of an electric-powered ion thruster for spacecraft, where iodine was used in lieu of xenon as the source of plasma, in order to generate thrust by accelerating ions with an electrostatic field.^[85]

Medicine

Elemental iodine

Elemental iodine is used as an antiseptic either as the element, or as the water-soluble triiodide anion I₃⁻ generated in situ by adding iodide to poorly water-soluble elemental iodine (the reverse chemical reaction makes some free elemental iodine available for antisepsis). Elemental iodine may also be used to treat iodine deficiency.^[88]

In the alternative, iodine may be produced from iodophors, which contain iodine complexed with a solubilizing agent (the iodide ion may be thought of loosely as the iodophor in triiodide water solutions). Examples of such preparations include:^[89]

Tincture of iodine: iodine in ethanol, or iodine and sodium iodide in a mixture of ethanol and water.
Lugol's iodine: iodine and iodide in water alone, forming mostly triiodide. Unlike tincture of iodine, Lugol's iodine has a minimised amount of the free iodine (I₂) component.
Povidone iodine (an iodophor
).

Iodine-V: iodine (I₂) and
host-guest complex). A water-soluble, solid, stable, crystalline complex. Unlike other iodophors, Iodine-V only contains iodine in molecular (I₂) form.^[90]

The antimicrobial action of iodine is quick and works at low concentrations, and thus it is used in operating theatres.

parvoviruses are less sensitive than lipid enveloped viruses. Iodine probably attacks surface proteins of enveloped viruses, and it may also destabilise membrane fatty acids by reacting with unsaturated carbon bonds.^[92]

Other formulations

Before the advent of organic

chelating agents, salts of iodide were given orally in the treatment of lead or mercury poisoning, such as heavily popularized by Louis Melsens and many nineteenth and early twentieth century doctors.^[93]^[94]

In medicine, a saturated solution of

thyrotoxicosis. It is also used to block uptake of iodine-131 in the thyroid gland (see isotopes section above), when this isotope is used as part of radiopharmaceuticals (such as iobenguane) that are not targeted to the thyroid or thyroid-type tissues.^[95]^[96]

Iodine-131 (usually as iodide) is a component of

micrograms) of ionic iodine. (The typical daily dose of iodine for normal health is of order 100 micrograms; see "Dietary Intake" below.) Ingestion of this large dose of non-radioactive iodine minimises the uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland.^[97]

Diatrizoic acid

, an iodine-containing radiocontrast agent

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Hazards
GHS labelling:
Pictograms
Signal word	Danger
Hazard statements	H312, H315, H319, H332, H335, H372, H400
Precautionary statements	P261, P273, P280, P305, P314, P338, P351^[128]
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)	^[129] 3 0 0

v t e Iodine compounds
Iodine(-I)	HI NI₃ NiI2−4 AtI ICN other
Iodine(I)	I₂O HIO ICl IF NI₃ IBr INO₃ C₃H₅I
Iodine(II)	IO
Iodine(III)	HIO₂ ICl₃ IF₃ IBr₃
Iodine(IV)	IO ₂
Iodine(V)	HIO₃ IF₅ I₂O₅ IO₂F IOF₃
Iodine(VII)	HIO₄ H₅IO₆ IF₇ IO₃F IO₂F₃ IOF₅

v t e Diatomic chemical elements
Common	H₂ N₂ O₂ F₂ Cl₂ Br₂ I₂
Other	He₂ Ar₂ C₂ P₂ S₂ Li₂ Rb₂

Iodine

History

Properties

Isotopes

Chemistry and compounds

Charge-transfer complexes

Hydrogen iodide

Other binary iodine compounds

Iodine halides

Iodine oxides and oxoacids

Polyiodine compounds

Organoiodine compounds

Occurrence and production

Applications

Chemical analysis

Spectroscopy

Spacecraft propulsion

Medicine

Elemental iodine

Other formulations

Others

Biological role

Dietary intake

Deficiency

Precautions

Toxicity

Occupational exposure

Allergic reactions

US DEA List I status

References

Bibliography