Safety Letter: Evaluation of the Popular Oxidant 2-Iodoxybenzoic Acid (IBX)

2-Iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) is a versatile oxidant used in chemical synthesis. It has been employed as a reagent in more than 1400 publications since its initial use as an oxidant described in 1994. Whereas several approaches to its synthesis are known, we assessed the safety profile of IBX prepared via Santagostino's popular method of treating 2-iodobenzoic acid with Oxone. Here, we report a thorough assessment of IBX's safety profile, including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments, a model for its self-accelerated decomposition temperature (SADT), assessment of IBX's shock sensitivity through impact-sensitivity experiments, and calorimetry measurements with an advanced reactive system screening tool (ARSST). These studies confirm the explosive nature of the oxidant and provide insight into how IBX should be handled to maximize safety in a laboratory setting.