Development of Electrophilic Radical Perfluoroalkylation of Electron-Deficient Olefins

Abstract

Fluorinated organic compounds have attracted significant attention over the past few decades owing to their unique properties and versatility. An established method for the synthesis of fluorinated organic compounds involves radical perfluoroalkylation reactions towards double bonds. In this radical pathway, electrophilic perfluoroalkyl radicals exhibit excellent reactivity towards electron-rich olefins. Therefore, several splendid perfluoroalkylation reactions of electron-rich olefins have been reported. However, there are only a few examples of reaction involving electron-deficient olefins because of their poor electronic compatibility with perfluoroalkyl radicals. This review focuses on the reports that challenge this long-standing issue. Radical perfluoroalkylation/bifunctionalization reactions of electron-deficient olefins are described according to the radical generation methods.

Keywords: Bifunctionalization; Electron-Deficient Olefin; Electrophilic Radical; Perfluoroalkylation; Trifluoromethylation.