Photocatalytic C-F Bond Borylation of Polyfluoroarenes with NHC-boranes

Org Lett. 2020 Mar 6;22(5):1742-1747. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c00020. Epub 2020 Feb 13.

Abstract

The first photoredox-catalyzed defluoroborylation of polyfluoroarenes with NHC-BH3 has been facilely achieved at room temperature via a single-electron-transfer (SET)/radical addition pathway. This new strategy makes full use of the advantage of photoredox catalysis to generate the key boryl radical via direct activation of a B-H bond. Good functional group tolerance and high regioselectivity offer this protocol incomparable advantages in preparing a wide array of valuable polyfluoroarylboron compounds. Moreover, both computational and experimental studies were performed to illustrate the reaction mechanism.