Regioconvergent Nucleophilic Substitutions with Morita-Baylis-Hillman Fluorides

Lithium iodide enables regioconvergent C-F bond functionalization of isomeric Morita-Baylis-Hillman fluorides with carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen nucleophiles. The defluorinative carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formations give multifunctional compounds in excellent yields and with good to high diastereoselectivities at room temperature. The possibility of catalytic enantioselective allylation is also discussed.

Selective Csp3-F Bond Functionalization with Lithium Iodide

A highly efficient method for C-F bond functionalization of a broad variety of activated and unactivated aliphatic substrates with inexpensive lithium iodide is presented. Primary, secondary, tertiary, benzylic, propargylic and α-functionalized alkyl fluorides react in chlorinated or aromatic solvents at room temperature or upon heating to the corresponding iodides which are isolated in 91-99% yield. The reaction is selective for aliphatic monofluorides and can be coupled with in situ nucleophilic iodide replacements to install carbon-carbon, carbon-nitrogen and carbon-sulfur bonds with high yields. Alkyl difluorides, trifluorides, even in activated benzylic positions, are inert under the same conditions and aryl fluoride bonds are also tolerated.

Chemodivergent Csp3─F bond functionalization and cross-electrophile alkyl-alkyl coupling with alkyl fluorides

The widespread use of fluorinated organic compounds in the health, agrochemical, and materials sciences is sustained by a steadily growing pool of commercially available fine chemicals. The synthetic utility of the increasingly ubiquitous Csp³─F bond, however, remains to be fully exploited, which is often a difficult task because of its paramount stability and chemical inertness. Here, we demonstrate chemodivergent activation of monofluoroalkyl compounds toward either nucleophilic or electrophilic intermediates. This is accomplished under conditions that are compatible with several reaction types and many functional groups, which drastically widens the current scope of organofluorine chemistry and sets the stage for carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formations, stereoselective construction of bisoxindole alkaloid scaffolds via in situ Umpolung, and cross-electrophilic coupling methodology. The selective generation of either nucleophilic or electrophilic species and the possibility of doing so simultaneously or, alternatively, switching molecular polarity enable previously unidentified synthetic opportunities that recognize alkyl fluorides as chemodivergent building blocks.

Diazaphospholene-Catalyzed Hydrodefluorination of Polyfluoroarenes with Phenylsilane via Concerted Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution

The metal-free catalytic C-F bond activation of polyfluoroarenes was achieved with diazaphospholene as the catalyst and phenylsilane as the terminal reductant. Density functional theory calculations suggested a concerted nucleophilic aromatic substitution mechanism.

Palladium and Nickel Catalyzed Suzuki Cross-Coupling with Alkyl Fluorides

Suzuki cross-coupling of benzylic and unactivated aliphatic fluorides with aryl- and alkenylboronic acids has been achieved via mechanistically distinct Pd and Ni catalyzed pathways that outperform competing protodeboronation, β-hydride elimination, and homocoupling processes. The utility is demonstrated with more than 20 examples including heterocyclic structures, 1,1-disubstituted and trans-1,2-disubstituted alkenes, and by the incorporation of acetonitrile into functionalized (hetero)arenes.

Aqueous Instability of δ-Fluorobutylpiperidines

In a series of partially fluorinated N-propyl- and N-butylpiperidine derivatives, three compounds were found to exhibit unexpected instability under mild biophysical assay conditions. These compounds carry a single terminal fluorine in the δ-position of an N-butyl group as a common structural feature. An adjacent fluorine substituent at the γ-position significantly slows down the reactivity. All other compounds, having either no or more than one fluorine substituent at the δ-position are chemically inert under all assay conditions. The reactivity of the labile compounds is traced to an intramolecular ring-closing fluorine substitution reaction by the moderately basic piperidine unit, leading to a spiro-pyrrolidinium salt. The chemical lability of δ-monofluorinated or γ,δ-difluorinated N-butylpiperidine derivatives even under very mild biophysical assay conditions constitutes a caveat to the molecular design of partially fluorinated alkylamines.

Stable (sila)difluoromethylboranes via C–F activation of fluoroform derivatives

Lithium 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-1H-1,3,2-diazaborol-2-uide activates the C–F linkage of CF₃R (R = H, SiMe₃) to provide difluoromethyl-substituted boranes as air-stable compounds.

Catalytic Enantioselective and Diastereoselective Allylic Alkylation with Fluoroenolates: Efficient Access to C3-Fluorinated and All-Carbon Quaternary Oxindoles

Synthetically versatile 3,3-disubstituted fluorooxindoles exhibiting vicinal chirality centers were obtained in high yields and with excellent enantio-, diastereo-, and regioselectivity through catalytic asymmetric fluoroenolate alkylation with allylic acetates. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions and can be scaled up without compromising the asymmetric induction. The unique synthetic usefulness of the products is highlighted by the incorporation of additional functionalities and the formation of 3-fluorinated oxindoles exhibiting an array of four adjacent centers of chirality. A new C-F bond functionalization path that provides unprecedented possibilities for the stereoselective generation of a chiral quaternary carbon center in the alkaloid scaffold is introduced.