Recent advances in N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed fluorination and fluoroalkylation

Abstract

Fluorine and fluoroalkyl groups widely exist in organic molecules that are useful in numerous fields such as biological chemistry, medicinal science, agrochemistry, materials science and synthetic chemistry. The efficient modification of organic molecules with fluorine or fluoroalkyl groups is a very important topic in organic synthesis. In addition, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are a class of robust and versatile organocatalysts that have been intensely utilized for the assembly of many functionalized organic compounds. NHC-catalyzed fluorination and fluoroalkylation reactions serve as robust and versatile strategies for accessing various fluorine-containing molecules efficiently and conveniently. Herein, we provide an overview of the important advances in this field with an intriguing focus from 2005 to 2023. This review summarizes the recent developments in NHC-catalyzed transformations where the fluorine-containing groups are introduced using fluorinating and fluoroalkylating reagents. These fluorination and fluoroalkylation transformations are illustrated from three major aspects based on the different properties of the reagents.