Fluoromethyl-2,4,6-trinitrophenylsulfonate: A New Electrophilic Monofluoromethylating Reagent

Fluoromethyl Triflate and Fluoromethyl Fluorosulfonate: Easily Accessible and Powerful Fluoromethylation Reagents

Fluoromethyl triflate (superfluoromethyl, SFM, FH2COSO2CF3) and fluoromethyl fluorosulfonate (magic fluoromethyl, MFM, FH2COSO2F) are two easily synthesized, highly effective and non-ozone depleting fluoromethylation reagents. They are analogous to the well-known and widely used methylation reagents H3COSO2CF3 and H3COSO2F. Both SFM and MFM have been fully characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 17O, 19F, 33S). Their structures have been determined in the solid state on in situ grown crystals by X-ray diffraction and in the gas phase by electron diffraction. The fluoromethylation efficiency of SFM and MFM was shown by reactions with chalcogen nucleophiles of differing nucleophilicity. All fluoromethylated products were isolated as pure compounds and characterized by NMR and vibrational spectroscopy, as well as in some cases by single crystal X-ray diffraction.

Cu-UiO-66 Catalyzed Synthesis of Imines via Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines

Herein, the Cu-UiO-66 catalyst was developed for acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling (ADC) between alcohols and amines to produce imines. The Cu-UiO-66 catalyst was synthesized by installing Cu2+ onto Zr-oxo clusters in UiO-66, and the catalyst efficiently catalyzes the ADC reaction under mild and environmentally friendly conditions with excellent selectivity. Mechanistic studies reveal that the O2⋅- radicals and porosity of formed in Cu-UiO-66 participate cooperatively during the catalytic cycle. Meanwhile, the only by-product of the system is environmentally benign water. Cycling tests and hot filtration tests showed that the Cu-UiO-66 catalyst exhibited excellent stability and catalytic activity during the reaction. Importantly, the Cu-UiO-66 catalyst might provide a promising strategy for the ADC reaction between alcohols and amines to produce imines.

The synthetic versatility of fluoroiodomethane: recent applications as monofluoromethylation platform

In recent years, fluoroiodomethane (CH₂FI) has emerged as an easy-to-handle, non-ozone depleting agent and readily available platform for monofluoromethylation strategies. Recent applications in nucleophilic substitutions, lithiation reactions, transition-metal catalyzed transformations, radical processes, and ¹⁸F-radiolabelling chemistry showcase the potential of this reagent for the preparation of organofluorine compounds. In this minireview, we provide an update to the field covering the recent relevant literature on the use of CH₂FI.

Fluorinated S-Adenosylmethionine as a Reagent for Enzyme-Catalyzed Fluoromethylation

Strategic replacement of protons with fluorine atoms or functional groups with fluorine-containing fragments has proven a powerful strategy to optimize the activity of therapeutic compounds. For this reason, the synthetic chemistry of organofluorides has been the subject of intense development and innovation for many years. By comparison, the literature on fluorine biocatalysis still makes for a slim chapter. Herein we introduce S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) dependent methyltransferases as a new tool for the production of fluorinated compounds. We demonstrate the ability of halide methyltransferases to form fluorinated SAM (S-adenosyl-S-(fluoromethyl)-L-homocysteine) from S-adenosylhomocysteine and fluoromethyliodide. Fluorinated SAM (F-SAM) is too unstable for isolation, but is accepted as a substrate by C-, N- and O-specific methyltransferases for enzyme-catalyzed fluoromethylation of small molecules.