A dark violet nonmetallic element belonging to group 17 of the periodic table (see halogens); a.n. 53; r.a.m. 126.9045; r.d. 4.94; m.p. 113.5°C; b.p. 184.35°C. The element is insoluble in water but soluble in ethanol and other organic solvents. When heated it gives a violet vapour that sublimes. Iodine is required as a trace element (see essential element) by living organisms; in animals it is concentrated in the thyroid gland as a constituent of thyroid hormones. The element is present in sea water and was formerly extracted from seaweed. It is now obtained from oil-well brines (displacement by chlorine). There is one stable isotope, iodine-127, and fourteen radioactive isotopes. It is used in medicine as a mild antiseptic (dissolved in ethanol as tincture of iodine), and in the manufacture of iodine compounds. Chemically, it is less reactive than the other halogens and the most electropositive (metallic) halogen. In solution it can be determined by titration using thiosulphate solution:
The molecule forms an intense blue complex with starch, which is consequently used as an indicator. It was discovered in 1811 by Bernard Courtois (1777–1838).
https://www.webelements.com/iodine/ Information from the WebElements site