Synthesis of Quaternary α-Fluoronitriles from Monofluorolkenes
Xi-Sheng Wang describes the cobalt-catalyzed hydrocyanation of monofluoroalkenes.
Facile Synthesis of Quaternary α-Fluoronitriles by Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrocyanation of Monofluoroalkenes: Y. Li, R. Cui, T.-R. Wu, X.-S. Wang
Synthesis 2021, 53, DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719841
β-Fluoroamines, which are exclusively man-made, are key bioactive compounds displaying a wide range of activities, including enzymatic inhibition. Among the possible precursors for β-fluoroamines – which have attracted widespread attention among organofluorine and medicinal chemists – are α-fluoronitriles, which can be reduced/hydrogenated to β-fluoroamines. However, there are only few synthetic methods reported so far for the synthesis of α-fluoronitriles, especially when carrying the fluorine atom on a quaternary carbon. The group of Professor Xi-Sheng Wang from the University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, P. R. of China) recently reported a new versatile entry to the title compounds.
Professor Wang commented: “Hydrocyanation of monofluoroalkenes, which is a new strategy for the synthesis of quaternary α-fluoronitriles, has been developed by exploiting the potential of cobalt catalysis.”
