Reacting hydrazones of arylaldehydes with Togni's CF3 -benziodoxolone reagent, in the presence of potassium hydroxide and cesium fluoride, induces a denitrogenative hydrotrifluoromethylation event to produce (2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)arenes. This novel reaction was tolerant to many electronically-diverse functional groups and substitution patterns, as well as naphthyl- and heteroaryl-derived substrates. Advantages of this process include the easy access to hydrazone precursors on a large scale, speed and operational simplicity, and being transition metal-free.
Keywords: Wolff-Kishner; fluorine; hydrazones; hypervalent iodine; trifluoromethylation.
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