Issue 8, 2024

A review of frustrated Lewis pair enabled monoselective C–F bond activation

Abstract

Frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) bond activation chemistry has greatly developed over the last two decades since the seminal report of metal-free reversible hydrogen activation. Recently, FLP systems have been utilized to allow monoselective C–F bond activation (at equivalent sites) in polyfluoroalkanes. The problem of ‘over-defluorination’ in the functionalization of polyfluoroalkanes (where multiple fluoro-positions are uncontrollably functionalized) has been a long-standing chemical problem in fluorocarbon chemistry for over 80 years. FLP mediated monoselective C–F bond activation is complementary to other solutions developed to address ‘over-defluorination’ and offers several advantages and unique opportunities. This perspective highlights some of these advantages and opportunities and places the development of FLP mediated C–F bond activation into the context of the wider effort to overcome ‘over-defluorination’.

Graphical abstract: A review of frustrated Lewis pair enabled monoselective C–F bond activation

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
04 12 2023
Accepted
07 1 2024
First published
16 1 2024
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 2712-2724

A review of frustrated Lewis pair enabled monoselective C–F bond activation

K. Lye and R. D. Young, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 2712 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC06485A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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