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

One-pot cross-enyne metathesis (CEYM)-Diels-Alder reaction of gem-difluoropropargylic alkynes

Propargylic difluorides 1 were used as starting substrates in a combination of cross-enyne metathesis and Diels–Alder reactions. Thus, the reaction of 1 with ethylene in the presence of 2^nd generation Hoveyda–Grubbs catalyst generates a diene moiety which in situ reacts with a wide variety of dienophiles giving rise to a small family of new fluorinated carbo- and heterocyclic derivatives in moderate to good yields. This is a complementary protocol to the one previously described by our research group, which involved the use of 1,7-octadiene as an internal source of ethylene.

Synthesis of enones, pyrazolines and pyrrolines with gem-difluoroalkyl side chains

Starting from easily accessible gem-difluoropropargylic derivatives, a DBU-mediated isomerisation affords enones in fair yields with a gem-difluoroalkyl chain. These derivatives were used to prepare pyrazolines and pyrrolines with the desired gem-difluoroalkyl side chain by cyclocondensations in good yields and with excellent stereoselectivity. A one-pot process was also successfully developed for these sequential reactions. By carrying out various types of Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions for compounds with a p-bromophenyl substituent a route to focused chemical libraries was demonstrated.

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.

Flexible synthesis of pyrimidines with chiral monofluorinated and difluoromethyl side chains

Chiral pyrimidines with a fluorine atom in the benzylic position are easily accessible in high enantiomeric excesses from optically active propargylic intermediates by two complementary routes. Both the use of optically active propargylic fluorides and the fluorination of the chiral pyrimidine in the final stage give excellent results in terms of enantiocontrol. On the other hand, original pyrimidines with a difluoromethyl side chain are also obtained in a few steps from new propargylic ketones bearing a CHF(2) substituent on the triple bond.

Synthesis of propargylic fluorides from allenylsilanes

Allenylsilanes reacted at room temperature in acetonitrile with Selectfluor, an electrophilic fluorinating reagent, to give secondary propargylic fluorides in moderate to good yields; mechanistically, a side-product resulting from a 1,2-silyl shift testifies to the presence of a cationic intermediate.

Carbon−Fluorine Bond Activation Coupled with Carbon−Hydrogen Bond Formation α to Iridium: Kinetics, Mechanism, and Diastereoselectivity

Reactions of iridium(fluoroalkyl)hydride complexes CpIr(PMe(3))(CF(2)R(F))Y (R(F) = F, CF(3); Y = H, D) with LutHX (Lut = 2,6-dimethylpyridine; X = Cl, I) results in C-F activation coupled with hydride migration to give CpIr(PMe(3))(CYFR(F))X as variable mixtures of diastereomers. Solution conformations and relative diastereomer configurations of the products have been determined by (19)F{(1)H}HOESY NMR to be (S(C), S(Ir))(R(C), R(Ir)) for the kinetic diastereomer and (R(C), S(Ir))(S(C), R(Ir)) for its thermodynamic counterpart. Isotope labeling experiments using LutDCl/CpIr(PMe(3))(CF(2)R(F))H and CpIr(PMe(3))(CF(2)R(F))D/LutHCl) showed that, unlike a previously studied system, H/D exchange is faster than protonation of the alpha-CF bond, giving an identical mixture of product isotopologues from both reaction mixtures. The kinetic rate law shows a first-order dependence on the concentration of iridium substrate, but a half-order dependence on that of LutHCl; this is interpreted to mean that LutHCl dissociates to give HCl as the active protic source for C-F bond activation. Detailed kinetic studies are reported, which demonstrate that lack of complete diastereoselectivity is not a function of the C-F bond activation/H migration steps but that a cationic intermediate plays a double role in loss of diastereoselectivity; the intermediate can undergo epimerization at iridium before being trapped by halide and can also catalyze the epimerization of kinetic diastereomer product to thermodynamic product. A detailed mechanism is proposed and simulations performed to fit the kinetic data.

Effects of Fluorine on the Structures and Energetics of the Propynyl and Propargyl Radicals and Their Anions

[reaction: see text] The adiabatic electron affinity (EA(ad)) of the CH(3)-C[triple bond]C(*) radical [experiment = 2.718 +/- 0.008 eV] and the gas-phase basicity of the CH(3)-C[triple bond]C:(-) anion [experiment = 373.4 +/- 2 kcal/mol] have been compared with those of their fluorine derivatives. The latter are studied using theoretical methods. It is found that there are large effects on the electron affinities and gas-phase basicities as the H atoms of the alpha-CH(3) group in the propynyl system are substituted by F atoms. The predicted electron affinities are 3.31 eV (FCH(2)-C[triple bond]C(*)), 3.86 eV (F(2)CH-C[triple bond]C(*)), and 4.24 eV (F(3)C-C[triple bond]C(*)), and the predicted gas-phase basicities of the fluorocarbanion derivatives are 366.4 kcal/mol (FCH(2)-C[triple bond]C:(-)), 356.6 kcal/mol (F(2)CH-C[triple bond]C:(-)), and 349.8 kcal/mol (F(3)C-C[triple bond]C:(-)). It is concluded that the electron affinities of fluoropropynyl radicals increase and the gas-phase basicities decrease as F atoms sequentially replace H atoms of the alpha-CH(3) in the propynyl system. The propargyl radicals, lower in energy than the isomeric propynyl radicals, are also examined and their electron affinities are predicted to be 0.98 eV ((*)CH(2)-C[triple bond]CH), 1.18 eV ((*)CFH-C[triple bond]CH), 1.32 eV ((*)CF(2)-C[triple bond] CH), 1.71 eV ((*)CH(2)-C[triple bond]CF), 2.05 eV ((*)CFH-C[triple bond]CF), and 2.23 eV ((*)CF(2)-C[triple bond]CF).

Carbon−Fluorine Bond Activation Coupled with Carbon−Carbon Bond Formation at Iridium. Confirmation of Complete Kinetic Diastereoselectivity at the New Carbon Stereocenter by Intramolecular Trapping Using Vinyl as the Migrating Group

The iridium(perfluoropropyl)(vinyl) complex CpIr(PMe(3))(n-C(3)F(7))(CH=CH(2)) (5) has been prepared. It has been characterized by X-ray crystallography, and its ground state conformation in solution has been determined by (19)F{(1)H} HOESY NMR studies. It reacts with the weak acid lutidinium iodide to afford the eta(1)-allylic complex CpIr(PMe(3))((Z)-CH(2)CH=CFC(2)F(5))I (6), which has also been characterized crystallographically. The mechanism of C-F bond activation and C-C bond formation leading to 6 has been elucidated in detail by studying the reaction of 5 with lutidinium tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate [LutH(+)B(ArF)(4)(-)], containing a weakly coordinating counteranion. The main kinetic product of this reaction, determined by (19)F{(1)H} HOESY studies at -50 degrees C, is the endo-CpIr(PMe(3))(anti-eta(3)-CH(2)CHCFCF(2)CF(3))[B(ArF)(4)] diastereomer 9, along with a small amount of the exo-syn-isomer 8. Isomer 9 rearranges at -20 degrees C to its exo-anti isomer 7, and subsequently to the thermodynamically favored exo-syn-isomer 8, which has been isolated and crystallographically characterized. Complex 8 reacts with iodide to afford complex6. On the basis of the unambiguously defined kinetically controlled stereochemistry of 9 and 8, a detailed mechanism for the C-F activation/C-C coupling reaction is proposed, the principal conclusion of which is that C-F activation is completely diastereoselective.