Regio- and stereoselective allylic fluorination using chiral rhenium complexes

Introduction of fluorine and fluorine-containing functional groups

Over the past decade, the most significant, conceptual advances in the field of fluorination were enabled most prominently by organo- and transition-metal catalysis. The most challenging transformation remains the formation of the parent C-F bond, primarily as a consequence of the high hydration energy of fluoride, strong metal-fluorine bonds, and highly polarized bonds to fluorine. Most fluorination reactions still lack generality, predictability, and cost-efficiency. Despite all current limitations, modern fluorination methods have made fluorinated molecules more readily available than ever before and have begun to have an impact on research areas that do not require large amounts of material, such as drug discovery and positron emission tomography. This Review gives a brief summary of conventional fluorination reactions, including those reactions that introduce fluorinated functional groups, and focuses on modern developments in the field.

The propargylic route as a short and versatile entry to optically active monofluorinated compounds

Using selected models and appropriate NMR techniques, it has been demonstrated that dehydroxyfluorination in the propargylic position can be highly regio- and stereoselective. The corresponding propargylic fluorides are very useful intermediates for short preparations of stereodefined unsaturated or polyunsaturated compounds with a single fluorine atom in allylic or propargylic position. This strategy offers good means for the synthesis of chiral, nonracemic monofluorinated analogues of natural products.

Synthesis of new optically active propargylic fluorides and application to the enantioselective synthesis of monofluorinated analogues of fatty acid metabolites

A new approach to obtain optically active unsaturated or polyunsaturated systems with a single fluorine atom in an allylic or propargylic position is reported. Central to this strategy is the high regio- and stereocontrol observed during the fluorination of propargylic alcohols allowing a short and efficient synthesis of 1. Further, simple functional group transformations gave the enals 2 and 3. These three key intermediates were used for the preparation of optically active monofluorinated analogues of fatty acid metabolites.