Preparation and properties of chiral fluoroorganic compounds

Asymmetric catalytic Mannich-type reaction of hydrazones with difluoroenoxysilanes using imidazoline-anchored phosphine ligand-zinc(II) complexes

Asymmetric Mannich-type reaction of hydrazones with difluoroenoxysilanes using chiral zinc(II)-imidazoline-phosphine complexes as catalysts have been established, giving the corresponding adducts in good to excellent enantioselectivity and chemical yields under mild conditions.

Electrochemical nickel-induced fluoroalkylation: synthetic, structural and mechanistic study

Electrocatalytic generation of nickel catalysts in low oxidation states by reduction of nickel complexes with various ligands (2,2'-bipyridine, 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine, (S,S)-2,6-bis(4-phenyl-2-oxazolin-2-yl)-pyridine) in the presence of olefinic substrates and fluoroalkyl halides leads to new organic products derived from addition-dimerization processes. Due to the presence of two stereocenters in the dimerization products two diastereomers were characterized by a variety of analytical techniques including multi-dimensional NMR methods and X-ray single crystal diffraction. The formation of dimers was prevented by the inclusion of the hydrogen atom donor tributyltin hydride. The cyclic voltammetry study of selected nickel complexes along with fluoroalkyl halides demonstrated that Ni(I)L is the active form of the catalyst.

New preparation and synthetic reactions of 3,3,3-trifluoropropynyllithium, -borate and -stannane: facile synthesis of trifluoromethylated allenes, arylacetylenes and enynes

Background: Since trifluoromethyl-containing compounds have found diverse applications in the fields of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, facile and selective synthetic methods for trifluoromethyl-substituted compounds are an essential tool for advanced medicinal chemistry. Now that diverse synthetic transformations of carbon–carbon triple bonds are available, 3,3,3-trifluoropropynyl-substituted compounds serve as versatile building blocks for target molecules containing trifluoromethyl groups. Thus, novel synthetic methods and reagents for incorporation of a 3,3,3-trifluoropropynyl group into an organic compound have been the major concern in exploration and modification of fluorine-based biologically active substances. Results & discussion: We report a preparative method of 3,3,3-trifluoropropynyllithium and its reaction with electrophiles including aldehydes, ketones, trimethoxyborane, chlorosilanes and chlorostannanes in detail. Palladium-catalyzed synthetic reactions of the carbonyl adducts and the trifluoromethyl-containing metalloid reagents are also demonstrated, which provide simple synthetic methods of trifluoromethylated allenes, arylacetylenes and enynes. The synthetic transformations presented here expand the repertoire of trifluoromethylated compounds available for medicinal scientists and contribute to the advance of future medicinal chemistry.

Recent advances in asymmetric phase-transfer catalysis

The use of chiral nonracemic onium salts and crown ethers as effective phase-transfer catalysts have been studied intensively primarily for enantioselective carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions under mild biphasic conditions. An essential issue for optimal asymmetric catalysis is the rational design of catalysts for targeted reaction, which allows generation of a well-defined chiral ion pair that reacts with electrophiles in a highly efficient and stereoselective manner. This concept, together with the synthetic versatility of phase-transfer catalysis, provides a reliable and general strategy for the practical asymmetric synthesis of highly valuable organic compounds.

Unprecedented catalytic asymmetric reduction of N-H imines

[Reaction: see text] Addition of lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide to perfluorinated ketones 1a-j affords (E)-N-TMS-ketimines 2a-j that are reduced in situ to afford racemic perfluoromethylated amine hydrochloride salts 3a-j in 54-97% yields. Solvolysis of the N-Si bond in MeOH leads to formation of bench-stable, isolable N-H imine Z/E isomer mixtures along with a methanol adduct. Enantioselective reduction of these three-component mixtures provides the first catalytic asymmetric synthesis of trifluoromethylated amines in 72-95% yields and 75-98% ee.

Modern synthetic methods for fluorine-substituted target molecules

Fluorine has come to be recognized as a key element in materials science: in heat-transfer agents, liquid crystals, dyes, surfactants, plastics, elastomers, membranes, and other materials. Furthermore, many fluorine-containing biologically active agents are finding applications as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Progress in synthetic fluorine chemistry has been critical to the development of these fields and has led to the invention of many novel fluorinated molecules as future drugs and materials. As a result of the electronic effects of fluorine substituents, fluorinated substrates and reagents often exhibit unusual and unique chemical properties, which often make them incompatible with established synthetic methods. Thus, the problem of how to control the unusual properties of compounds with fluorine substituents deserves much attention, so as to promote the design of facile, efficient, and environmentally benign methods for the synthesis of valuable organofluorine targets.

Metal enolates ofα-CF3 ketones: theoretical guideline, direct generation, and synthetic use

The difficulty as well as the significance of the direct generation of metal enolates of alpha-CF(3) ketones cannot be easily understood by chemists unfamiliar with F. In sharp contrast to the sunny side of non-F, hydrocarbon chemistry, F chemistry has long been overshadowed. Metal enolates of carbonyl compounds are synthetically important in C-C bond-forming reactions. However, the metal enolates of fluorinated carbonyl compounds have been severely limited to alpha-F metal enolates. Alpha-CF(3) metal enolates have generally been recognized as unstable and difficult to prepare because of the facile beta-M-F elimination. However, we have developed a direct generation and synthetic application of alpha-CF(3) metal enolates. Therefore, the present results regarding the direct generation and synthetic use of metal enolates of alpha-CF(3) ketones might be recognized as a real breakthrough for the general use of metal enolates in F chemistry.