A new, mild, and efficient synthesis of 2,2-difluoro-3-hydroxyacids through a selective haloform reaction

Controlling the Cleavage of Carbon-Carbon Bonds To Generate α,α-Difluorobenzyl Carbanions for the Construction of Difluoromethylbenzenes

Controlling the cleavage of carbon-carbon bonds during a chemical reaction is a substantial challenge; however, synthetic methods that accomplish this objective produce valuable and often unexplored reactivity. We have designed a mild process to generate α,α-difluorobenzyl carbanions in the presence of potassium carbonate by exploiting the cleavage of C-C bonds during the release of trifluoroacetate. The initiating reagent is potassium carbonate, which represents an improvement over existing protocols that require a strong base. Fragmentation studies across substituted arenes and heteroarenes were conducted along with computational analyses to elucidate reactivity trends. Furthermore, the mildly generated α,α-difluorobenzyl carbanions from electron-deficient aromatics and heteroaromatic rings can react with aldehydes to create derivatives of difluoromethylbenzenes, which are valuable synthetic targets.

Metal-Free Aerobic Oxidative Selective C-C Bond Cleavage in Heteroaryl-Containing Primary and Secondary Alcohols

A transition-metal-free aerobic oxidative selective C-C bond-cleavage reaction in primary and secondary heteroaryl alcohols is reported. This reaction was highly efficient and tolerated various heteroaryl alcohols, generating a carboxylic acid derivative and a neutral heteroaromatic compound. Experimental studies combined with density functional theory calculations revealed the mechanism underlying the selective C-C bond cleavage. This strategy also provides an alternative simple approach to carboxylation reaction.

Generation of Magnesium Pentafluoropropen-2-olate from Hexafluoroisopropanol and Synthesis of 2,2,4,4,4-Pentafluoro-3,3-dihydroxyketones

2,2,4,4,4-Pentafluoro-3,3-dihydroxyketones are valuable precursors to difluoroenolates following fragmentation during the release of trifluoroacetate; however, there are few synthetic strategies to prepare this unique class of compound. We addressed this issue and report a mild, two-step synthesis of 2,2,4,4,4-pentafluoro-3,3-dihydroxyketones from aldehydes. Specifically, aldehydes are treated with pentafluoropropen-2-olate, generated from a new fragmentation of hexafluoroisopropanol with a mixed Mg/Li amide, to give pentafluoroalcohols. A subsequent oxidation with Dess-Martin periodinane provides the targets in good isolated yields.

Bromoform reaction of tertiary amines with N,N-dibromosulfonamides or NBS/sulfonamides

A new bromoform reaction of tertiary amines with N,N-dibromosulfonamides or NBS/sulfonamides has been developed. A series of amidines were prepared with moderate to good yields via a Csp(3)-Csp(3) bond cleavage.

EPR/spin-trapping study of free radical intermediates in the photolysis of trifluoromethyl ketones with initiators

Photolysis of trifluoromethyl ketones (TFMKs) 1a-1e versus the non-fluorinated ketones 2a-2b in the presence of radical initiators by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy has been studied for the first time. The transient radicals generated after irradiation of the ketones were identified by trapping with 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (MNP) and 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylnitrosobenzene (TTBNB) as spin traps. TTBNB is a powerful, particularly useful spin trap in these kinds of processes producing anilino and nitroxyl spin adducts due to the ambivalent reactivity on the N and O atoms. In the presence of t-butylperoxide, short-chain TFMKs, such as 1,1,1-trifluoroacetone (1d) and hexafluoroacetone (1e), give rise to detection of the elusive trifluoromethyl radical. In contrast, long-chain TFMKs did not provide clues to prove formation of the trifluoromethyl radical but instead to radicals derived by abstraction of one alpha-methylene proton to the carbonyl. Although TFMKs are quite stable to photodegradation in the absence of initiator, methyl ketone 2b and phenyl ketone 3 produce radicals resulting from abstraction of a gamma-hydrogen to the carbonyl group.