Synthesis of α-(perfluoroalkylsulfonyl)propiophenones: a new set of reagents for the light-mediated perfluoroalkylation of aromatics

Abstract

In response to the demand for late-stage perfluoroalkylation in synthetic chemistry, we report the synthesis of a series of bench-stable α-(perfluoroalkylsulfonyl)propiophenones. Their application as photocleavable reagents was tested with electron-rich aromatics under metal-free, redox- and pH-neutral conditions to enable late-stage perfluorooctylation, perfluorohexylation, and perfluorobutylation.

Keywords

• α-(perfluoroalkylsulfonyl)propiophenones
• innate functionalization
• late-stage functionalization
• light-mediated perfluoroalkylation
• perfluoroalkyl sulfinates