p-Iodotoluene difluoride (p-Tol-IF 2 ) has been found to be a general reagent for the effective introduction of various oxygen-containing functionalities including tosyloxy, mesyloxy, acetoxy, phosphoryloxy, methoxy, ethoxy and isopropoxy at the a-position of b-dicarbonyl compounds. These transformations can be readily realized by the use of the combined reagent of p-iodotoluene difluoride and various oxygen-containing nucleophilic compounds such as p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid, acetic acid, diphenyl phosphate, methanol, ethanol and propan-2-ol under mild conditions, respectively. And, the in situ generated hypervalent iodineA C H T U N G T R E N N U N G (III) species via ligand exchange between p-iodotoluene difluoride and the respective oxygen-containing nucleophiles are believed to be the real oxidizing agents in such transformations.