Construction of chiral trifluoromethylated materials by combination of stereochemically predictable SN2′ reaction and Ireland-Claisen rearrangement

Facile preparation and conversion of 4,4,4-trifluorobut-2-yn-1-ones to aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds

The concise preparation of 4,4,4-trifluorobut-2-yn-1-ones by the oxidation of the readily accessible corresponding propargylic alcohols as well as their utilization as Michael acceptors for the construction of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds are reported.

Molybdenum chloride catalysts for Z-selective olefin metathesis reactions

The development of catalyst-controlled stereoselective olefin metathesis processes has been a pivotal recent advance in chemistry. The incorporation of appropriate ligands within complexes based on molybdenum, tungsten and ruthenium has led to reactivity and selectivity levels that were previously inaccessible. Here we show that molybdenum monoaryloxide chloride complexes furnish higher-energy (Z) isomers of trifluoromethyl-substituted alkenes through cross-metathesis reactions with the commercially available, inexpensive and typically inert Z-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene. Furthermore, otherwise inefficient and non-stereoselective transformations with Z-1,2-dichloroethene and 1,2-dibromoethene can be effected with substantially improved efficiency and Z selectivity. The use of such molybdenum monoaryloxide chloride complexes enables the synthesis of representative biologically active molecules and trifluoromethyl analogues of medicinally relevant compounds. The origins of the activity and selectivity levels observed, which contradict previously proposed principles, are elucidated with the aid of density functional theory calculations.