The unique role of fluorine in the design of active ingredients for modern crop protection

Transition metal catalysis and nucleophilic fluorination

Transition metal catalyzed transformations using fluorinating reagents have been developed extensively for the preparation of synthetically valuable fluorinated targets. This is a topic of critical importance to facilitate laboratory and industrial chemical synthesis of fluorine containing pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Translation to (18)F-radiochemistry is also emerging as a vibrant research field because functional imaging based on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is increasingly used for both diagnosis and pharmaceutical development. This review summarizes how fluoride sources have been used for the catalytic nucleophilic fluorination of various substrates inclusive of aryl triflates, alkynes, allylic halides, allylic esters, allylic trichloroacetimidates, benzylic halides, tertiary alkyl halides and epoxides. Until recently, progress in this field of research has been slow in part because of the challenges associated with the dual reactivity profile of fluoride (nucleophile or base). Despite these difficulties, some remarkable breakthroughs have emerged. This includes the demonstration that Pd(0)/Pd(II)-catalyzed nucleophilic fluorination to access fluoroarenes from aryl triflates is feasible, and the first examples of Tsuji-Trost allylic alkylation with fluoride using either allyl chlorides or allyl precursors bearing O-leaving groups. More recently, allylic fluorides were also made accessible under iridium catalysis. Another reaction, which has been greatly improved based on careful mechanistic work, is the catalytic asymmetric hydrofluorination of meso epoxides. Notably, each individual transition metal catalyzed nucleophilic fluorination reported to date employs a different F-reagent, an observation indicating that this area of research will benefit from a larger pool of nucleophilic fluoride sources. In this context, a striking recent development is the successful design, synthesis and applications of a fluoride-derived electrophilic late stage fluorination reagent. This new class of reagents could greatly benefit preclinical and clinical PET imaging.

Role of Fluorine in Weak Interactions in Co-crystals

The presence of the C–F bond (commonly referred to as organic fluorine) in a large number of pharmaceutically relevant compounds suggests that it may be used in the production of novel salts and co-crystals that have intermolecular interactions involving fluorine. There is an ongoing debate in this context as fluorine is characterized by its high electronegativity, relatively small size and very low polarizability. The propensity of hydrogen to participate in generating highly directional and energetically stable hydrogen bonds has been exploited in the design of co-crystals and salts of many pharmaceutical compounds. A direct extension of this property to fluorine, however, is not plausible and thus intermolecular interactions involving fluorine must be quantified. Recent results and new approaches designed to evaluate organic fluorine which provide useful inputs for the design of co-crystals and salts are discussed in this chapter.

Palladium-catalyzed stereoconvergent formylation of (E/Z)-β-bromo-β-fluorostyrenes: straightforward access to (Z)-α-fluorocinnamic aldehydes and (Z)-β-fluorocinnamic alcohols

We report here the stereoconvergent formylation of (E/Z)-β-bromo-β-fluorostyrene mixtures with carbon monoxide and sodium formate catalyzed by palladium. Optimization of reaction conditions leads to the corresponding pure (Z)-α-fluorocinnamaldehydes in good yields. The reaction was extended to styrenes bearing electro-attracting or electro-donating groups. The obtained α-fluoroaldehydes were smoothly reduced to the corresponding (Z)-β-fluorocinnamic alcohol by NaBH(4). The reaction could be performed on functionalized substrates as demonstrated by the access to the glucoside of β-fluoroconiferyl alcohol, (Z)-β-fluoroconiferin, a strong inhibitor of lignin polymerization.

Solid-phase molecular recognition of cytosine based on proton-transfer reaction. Part II. supramolecular architecture in the cocrystals of cytosine and its 5-Fluoroderivative with 5-Nitrouracil

BACKGROUND

Cytosine is a biologically important compound owing to its natural occurrence as a component of nucleic acids. Cytosine plays a crucial role in DNA/RNA base pairing, through several hydrogen-bonding patterns, and controls the essential features of life as it is involved in genetic codon of 17 amino acids. The molecular recognition among cytosines, and the molecular heterosynthons of molecular salts fabricated through proton-transfer reactions, might be used to investigate the theoretical sites of cytosine-specific DNA-binding proteins and the design for molecular imprint.

RESULTS

Reaction of cytosine (Cyt) and 5-fluorocytosine (5Fcyt) with 5-nitrouracil (Nit) in aqueous solution yielded two new products, which have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The products include a dihydrated molecular salt (CytNit) having both ionic and neutral hydrogen-bonded species, and a dihydrated cocrystal of neutral species (5FcytNit). In CytNit a protonated and an unprotonated cytosine form a triply hydrogen-bonded aggregate in a self-recognition ion-pair complex, and this dimer is then hydrogen bonded to one neutral and one anionic 5-nitrouracil molecule. In 5FcytNit the two neutral nucleobase derivatives are hydrogen bonded in pairs. In both structures conventional N-H...O, O-H...O, N-H+...N and N-H...N- intermolecular interactions are most significant in the structural assembly.

CONCLUSION

The supramolecular structure of the molecular adducts formed by cytosine and 5-fluorocytosine with 5-nitrouracil, CytNit and 5FcytNit, respectively, have been investigated in detail. CytNit and 5FcytNit exhibit widely differing hydrogen-bonding patterns, though both possess layered structures. The crystal structures of CytNit (Dpka = -0.7, molecular salt) and 5FcytNit (Dpka = -2.0, cocrystal) confirm that, at the present level of knowledge about the nature of proton-transfer process, there is not a strict correlation between the Dpka values and the proton transfer, in that the acid/base pka strength is not a definite guide to predict the location of H atoms in the solid state. Eventually, the absence in 5FcytNit of hydrogen bonds involving fluorine is in agreement with findings that covalently bound fluorine hardly ever acts as acceptor for available Brønsted acidic sites in the presence of competing heteroatom acceptors.

Silver-mediated trifluoromethoxylation of aryl stannanes and arylboronic acids

A silver-mediated cross-coupling of trifluoromethoxide with aryl stannanes and arylboronic acids to give aryl trifluoromethyl ethers is reported. This is the first report of a transition-metal-mediated C(aryl)-OCF(3) bond formation.

Callus cultures for phytometabolism studies: phytometabolites of 3-trifluoromethylphenol in Lemnaceae plants and callus cultures

Plant callus cultures have the potential to advance phytoremediation science by allowing study of cellular phytometabolism in absence of sorption, translocation, microbial degradation, and other phytoremediation processes; however, studies demonstrating the applicability of results from callus cultures to whole plants are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasability and applicability of using callus cultures to study phytometabolism. This aim was accomplished through evaluation of induction and growth of Lemnaceae callus cultures and comparison of phytometabolism in callus cultures and whole plants. Four out of eight published methods for callus culture of Lemnaceae successfully induced callus cultures that exhibited doubling times of 1.7 to 23 wks. Callus cultures and whole plants of Landoltia punctata and Lemna minor metabolized 3-trifluoromethylphenol (3-TFMP) through conjugation with glucopyranoside, malonyl-glucopyranoside, and glucopyranosyl-apiofuranoside. However, concentrations of metabolites were approximately 10 times less in callus cultures than in plants. While results demonstrated applicability of callus cultures results to whole plants, the low success rate of callus induction procedures, length of time required to produce substantial callus mass, and the low accumulation of metabolites in callus cultures may limit the feasibility of callus cultures for assessing phytometabolism.

Regio- and diastereoselective fluorination of alicyclic β-amino acids

A regio- and stereoselective approach to fluorinated β-aminocyclohexene or cyclohexane esters has been developed, starting from a bicyclic β-lactam (1). The procedure involves six or seven steps, based on regio- and stereoselective iodolactonization, lactone opening and hydroxy-fluorine exchange. The method has been extended to the synthesis of fluorinated amino ester enantiomers.

Copper-catalyzed arylation of 1H-perfluoroalkanes

A general method has been developed for arylation of readily available 1H-perfluoroalkanes. The method employs aryl iodide and 1H-perfluoroalkane reagents, DMPU solvent, TMP(2)Zn base, and a copper chloride/phenanthroline catalyst. Preliminary mechanistic studies are reported.

Silver-mediated fluorination of aryl silanes

A regiospecific silver-mediated fluorination of aryl silanes is reported. The reaction is operationally simple, and employs Ag(2)O as readily available, inexpensive silver source, which can be recovered.

Single enantiomer synthesis of α-(trifluoromethyl)-β-lactam

The first synthesis of α-(trifluoromethyl)-β-lactam ((S)-1) is reported. The route starts from α-(trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (2). Conjugate addition of α-(p-methoxyphenyl)ethylamine ((S)-3b), generated an addition adduct 4b which was cyclised to β-lactam 5b. Separation of the diastereoisomers by chromatography gave ((αS,3S)-5b). N-Debenzylation afforded the desired α-(trifluoromethyl)-β-lactam ((S)-1). The absolute stereochemistry of diastereoisomers 5 was determined by X-ray crystallographic determination of a close structural analogue, (αS,3S)-5c, and then (1)H and (19)F NMR correlation to the individual diastereoisomers of 5a and 5b.

Catalysis for fluorination and trifluoromethylation

Recent advances in catalysis have made the incorporation of fluorine into complex organic molecules easier than ever before, but selective, general and practical fluorination reactions remain sought after. Fluorination of molecules often imparts desirable properties, such as metabolic and thermal stability, and fluorinated molecules are therefore frequently used as pharmaceuticals or materials. But the formation of carbon-fluorine bonds in complex molecules is a significant challenge. Here we discuss reactions to make organofluorides that have emerged within the past few years and which exemplify how to overcome some of the intricate challenges associated with fluorination.

Ring-opening hydrofluorination of 2,3- and 3,4-epoxy amines by HBF4·OEt2: application to the asymmetric synthesis of (S,S)-3-deoxy-3-fluorosafingol

Treatment of a range of 2,3- and 3,4-epoxy amines with HBF(4)·OEt(2) at room temperature results in fast and efficient S(N)2-type ring-opening hydrofluorination to give stereodefined amino fluorohydrins. Operational simplicity, scalability, and short reaction time at ambient temperature are notable features of this method. The utility of this methodology is exemplified in a concise asymmetric synthesis of (S,S)-3-deoxy-3-fluorosafingol.

Nucleophilic deoxyfluorination of catechols

Nucleophilic deoxyfluorinaiton of one of the two hydroxyl groups of catechols has been developed via the Umpolung concept. This method was successively applied to naturally occurring catechols, such as catechins and dopamine, to produce novel fluorinated analogues.

Intermolecular atom transfer radical addition to olefins mediated by oxidative quenching of photoredox catalysts

Atom transfer radical addition of haloalkanes and α-halocarbonyls to olefins is efficiently performed with the photocatalyst Ir[(dF(CF(3))ppy)(2)(dtbbpy)]PF(6). This protocol is characterized by excellent yields, mild conditions, low catalyst loading, and broad scope. In addition, the atom transfer protocol can be used to quickly and efficiently introduce vinyl trifluoromethyl groups to olefins and access 1,1-cyclopropane diesters.

Enantioselective organocatalytic α-fluorination of cyclic ketones

The first highly enantioselective α-fluorination of ketones using organocatalysis has been accomplished. The long-standing problem of enantioselective ketone α-fluorination via enamine activation has been overcome via high-throughput evaluation of a new library of amine catalysts. The optimal system, a primary amine functionalized Cinchona alkaloid, allows the direct and asymmetric α-fluorination of a variety of carbo- and heterocyclic substrates. Furthermore, this protocol also provides diastereo-, regio-, and chemoselective catalyst control in fluorinations involving complex carbonyl systems.