Used in various C-C coupling reactions, used to prepare biphenyl and stilbene, reacts with magnesium to form the Grignard reagent, a phenylmagnesium iodide used in organic synthesis, finds application as a solid chlorine source by reacting with chlorine to form a complex, iodobenzene dichloride, it serves as a substrate in Sonogashira reaction which is used to form a carbon-carbon bond between a terminal alkyne and an aryl halide.