Angewandte
Chemie
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201409983
Synthetic Methods
Direct Dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation of Alcohols Using Silver(I)
Trifluoromethanethiolate and Tetra-n-butylammonium Iodide**
Jian-Bo Liu, Xiu-Hua Xu, Zeng-Hao Chen, and Feng-Ling Qing*
Abstract: An unprecedented reaction for the direct trifluoro-
methylthiolation and fluorination of alkyl alcohols using
AgSCF3 and nBu4NI has been developed. The trifluoro-
methylthiolated compounds and alkyl fluorides were selec-
tively formed by changing the ratio of AgSCF3/nBu4NI. This
protocol is tolerant of different functional groups and might be
applicable to late-stage trifluoromethylthiolation of alcohols.
T
he development of new fluorination and fluoroalkylation
methods is currently an active area of research[1] because
fluorine-containing compounds are widely used in pharma-
ceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials.[2] However, most of
the synthetic methods are focused on the introduction of
fluorinated groups onto aromatic substrates. In contrast, few
breakthroughs have been made in the methodology for the
preparation of fluorine-containing aliphatic compounds.
Thus, the development of new methods for the introduction
of fluorinated groups into aliphatic molecules, especially from
the simple and easily available materials, is highly desirable.
The trifluoromethanesulfenyl group (CF3S) has attracted
special interest because of its strong electron-withdrawing
power and extremely high lipophilicity.[3] Especially during
the past several years, CF3S chemistry has experienced
a renewal.[4] The development of new trifluoromethylthiolat-
ing agents,[5] as well as new trifluoromethythiolation reac-
tions,[6] have attracted attention. Surprisingly, little attention
was paid to the transformation of alcohols into the corre-
sponding trifluoromethyl sulfides. In 1994, Kolomeitsev and
co-workers developed a two-step procedure for the prepara-
tion of trifluoromethyl sulfides from alcohols via a phosphite
intermediate using the toxic and gaseous reagent CF3SSCF3
(Scheme 1a).[7] Very recently, Rueping and co-workers
reported a direct trifluoromethylthiolation of benzylic and
allylic alcohols with CuSCF3 in the presence of stoichiometric
amounts of BF3·Et2O (Scheme 1b).[8] This method suf-
fers from narrow substrate scope and poor functional-
group tolerance because of the strong acidic conditions. In
Scheme 1. Different strategies for dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation.
continuation of our research interest in trifluoromethylthio-
lation,[6b,e,g,n,w,ac] we herein report a new strategy for the direct
dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation of alcohols (Scheme 1c).
In this protocol, the readily prepared and stable AgSCF3 is
used as the trifluoromethylthiolating agent and the mild
reagent nBu4NI was chosen for promoting the transforma-
tion.
The idea of this work came from the fact that trifluoro-
methylthiol and the corresponding anion are unstable.[9] It
was reported that there is an equilibrium between trifluoro-
methanethiolate with carbonothioic difluoride and fluoride
anion (Scheme 2a).[10] Normally, the trifluoromethanethiolate
Scheme 2. Our new strategy.
[*] J.-B. Liu, Dr. X.-H. Xu, Dr. Z.-H. Chen, Prof. Dr. F.-L. Qing
Key Laboratory of Organofluorine Chemistry
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry
345 Lingling Lu, Shanghai 200032 (China)
E-mail: flq@mail.sioc.ac.cn
is associated with a metal, such as HgII,[11] AgI,[12] or CuI,[13] to
stabilize the CF3S group. Among these stable sources of
trifluoromethanethiolate, AgSCF3 is readily prepared and
widely used for preparation of other trifluoromethylthiolation
agents (such as CuSCF3[13]) and trifluoromethylthiolation
reactions.[6] We wondered if it was possible to apply this
unique property of trifluoromethanethiolate to develop new
reactions, such as direct dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation
of alcohols. The proposed reaction mechanism is shown in
Scheme 2b. The activation of AgSCF3 gives the more active
Prof. Dr. F.-L. Qing
College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620 (China)
[**] This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (21421002, 21332010, 21272036), and the
National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB21600).
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 1 – 5
ꢀ 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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