Palladium-Catalyzed Negishi Cross-Coupling Reaction of Aryl Halides with (Difluoromethyl)zinc Reagent.

The palladium-catalyzed Negishi cross-coupling reaction of aryl iodides and bromides with (difluoromethyl)zinc reagent bearing a diamine such as TMEDA is achieved to provide the difluoromethylated aromatic compounds in good to excellent yields. The advantages of (difluoromethyl)zinc reagent are that (1) the derivatives, which possess different stability and reactivity, can be readily prepared via ligand screening and (2) transmetalation of a difluoromethyl group from the zinc reagent to palladium catalyst efficiently proceeds without an activator.

Copper-Catalyzed Difluoromethylation of Aryl Iodides with (Difluoromethyl)zinc Reagent.

The combination of difluoroiodomethane and zinc dust or diethylzinc can readily lead to (difluoromethyl)zinc reagents. Therefore, the first copper-catalyzed difluoromethylation of aryl iodides with the zinc reagents is accomplished to afford the difluoromethylated arenes. The reaction proceeds efficiently through the ligand/activator-free operation without addition of ligands for copper catalyst (e.g., phen and bpy) and activators for zinc reagent (e.g., KF, CsF, and NaO-t-Bu). Moreover, transmetalation of the CF2H group from zinc reagent to copper catalyst proceeds even at room temperature to form the cuprate [Cu(CF2H)2](-).

Direct synthesis of pentafluoroethyl copper from pentafluoropropionate as an economical C2F5 source: application to pentafluoroethylation of arylboronic acids and aryl bromides.

The direct synthesis of pentafluoroethyl copper (CuC2F5) from a cuprate reagent and ethyl pentafluoropropionate as one of the most economical and useful pentafluoroethyl sources was accomplished. The advantages of this method are; all the reagents employed are low-cost and operationally simple, and the CuC2F5 reagent is prepared in virtually quantitative yield. Furthermore, the CuC2F5 reagent prepared was successfully applied to two types of pentafluoroethylations with arylboronic acids and aryl bromides to provide the pentafluoroethylated aromatic products in good-to-excellent yields, including large scale operations.

Cu-catalyzed trifluoromethylation of aryl iodides with trifluoromethylzinc reagent prepared in situ from trifluoromethyl iodide.

The trifluoromethylation of aryl iodides catalyzed by copper(I) salt with trifluoromethylzinc reagent prepared in situ from trifluoromethyl iodide and Zn dust was accomplished. The catalytic reactions proceeded under mild reaction conditions, providing the corresponding aromatic trifluoromethylated products in moderate to high yields. The advantage of this method is that additives such as metal fluoride (MF), which are indispensable to activate silyl groups for transmetallation in the corresponding reactions catalyzed by copper salt by using the Ruppert-Prakash reagents (CF3SiR3), are not required.