Oxidative desulfurization–fluorination of thioethers. Application for the synthesis of fluorinated nitrogen containing building blocks

Recent Advances in the Synthesis of N-fluoroalkyl Amides/Sulfonamides and Their Carbonyl/Sulfonyl Derivatives

Organofluorine compounds have consistently demonstrated practical applications in the life sciences due to the fascinating properties imparted by the fluorine substituents. In recent years, significant advancements have been made in the synthesis of N-fluoroalkyl carbonyl and sulfonyl compounds. This review offers a current overview of the various synthetic routes for N-fluoroalkyl amides/sulfonamides and their transformation to new unexplored N-fluoroalkyl carbonyl/sulfonyl derivatives, categorized into three parts based on the different fluoroalkyl groups.

Assessing Methodologies to Synthesize α-Sulfenylated Carbonyl Compounds by Green Chemistry Metrics

α-Sulfenylated carbonyl compounds are important both as active pharmaceutical ingredients and as intermediates in organic synthesis. Owing to their relevance in synthetic organic chemistry, this Minireview focuses on assessing the most relevant synthetic procedures based on green chemistry metrics. The Minireview starts with the traditional routes and then focuses on more recently developed methodologies. These routes include sulfenylating reagents using organocatalysis, cross-dehydrogenative couplings using in situ halogenations to prevent reactive intermediates in high concentrations, oxidative couplings using terminal oxidants such as DDQ or TEMPO, and redox-neutral couplings using transition metal catalysis. These methodologies have been evaluated on the basis of atom economy, E factor, and the safety and toxicity of the transformations and the solvents used. Besides using green metrics to evaluate these novel methodologies, the synthetic utility is also assessed with regard to the availability of starting materials and the generality of the reactions. This Minireview aims to inspire researchers to apply green assessments to other methodologies and also for them to take measures to increase the greenness of their developed transformations.

Synthesis and Reactivity of α-Haloglycine Esters: Hyperconjugation in Action

A general and efficient synthesis of α-haloglycine esters from commercially available feedstock chemicals, in a single step, is reported. The reactivity of these α-haloglycine esters with various nucleophiles was studied as surrogates of α-iminoesters upon activation with hydrogen-bond donor catalysts. DFT calculations on the α-haloglycine structures (X = F, Cl, Br) accompanied by an X-ray characterization of the α-bromoglycine ester support the existence of a "generalized" anomeric effect created by hyperconjugation. This peculiar hyperconjugative effect is proposed to be responsible for the enhanced halogen nucleofugality leading to a facile halogen abstraction by hydrogen-bond donor catalysts. This reactivity was exploited with thiourea catalysts on several catalytic transformations (aza-Friedel-Crafts and Mannich reactions) for the synthesis of several types of non-proteinogenic α-amino esters.

High-Atom Economic Approach To Prepare Chiral α-Sulfenylated Ketones

Chiral α-sulfenylated ketones are versatile building blocks, although there are still several limitations with their preparation. Here we report a new two-step procedure, consisting of Pd-catalyzed hydrothiolation of propargylic alcohols followed by an enantioselective Rh isomerization of allylic alcohols. The isomerization reaction is the key step for obtaining the ketones in their enantioenriched form. The new methodology has a high atom economy and induces good to high levels of enantioselectivity; no waste is produced. A mechanism involving a Rh-hydride-enone intermediate is proposed for the isomerization reaction.

Synthesis of α,ω-polyfluorinated α-amino acid derivatives and δ,δ-difluoronorvaline

Intending to synthesize ω,ω-difluoroalkyl amino acid derivatives by oxidative desulfurization-fluorination reactions of suitable arylthio-2-phthalimido butanoates and pentanoates, in addition to small amounts of the target products, mainly α,ω-polyfluorinated amino acid derivatives were formed by additional sulfur-assisted α-fluorination. This novel structural motif was verified spectroscopically as well as by X-ray analysis. A plausible mechanism of formation is suggested. Using a different approach, δ,δ-difluoronorvaline hydrochloride was synthesized with at least 36% enantiomeric excess via deoxofluorination of the corresponding aldehyde.

Trifluoromethyl nitrogen heterocycles: synthetic aspects and potential biological targets

The synthetic methodologies and the potential biological targets of α-trifluoromethylated nitrogen heterocycles are presented.

Two-step synthesis of difluoromethyl-substituted 2,3-dihydrobenzoheteroles

3-Difluoromethylated 2,3-dihydrobenzoheteroles, 2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, 2,3-dihydrobenzothiophenes, and indolines were readily synthesized from ortho-heterosubstituted bromobenzenes, 2-bromophenols, 2-bromobenzenethiols, and 2-bromoanilines, respectively, in two steps: (1) γ-selective allylic substitution of 3-bromo-3,3-difluoropropene with heteronucleophiles and (2) intramolecular radical cyclization of the resulting 3,3-difluoroallylic compounds.