The direct iodination of arenes () is heavily reversible. What explicit chemical reagent is fundamen — Haloalkanes and Haloarenes Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

The byproduct $HI$ is a potent reducing agent that natively cleaves the new $C-I$ bond. Adding an oxidizer like $HIO_4$ chemically consumes the $HI$ by constantly oxidizing it back into molecular $I_2$, strictly pushing the equilibrium forward.