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Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Decarboxylative Fluorination of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids via Photoredox Catalysis
Sandrine Ventre1, Filip R Petronijevic1, David W C MacMillan1
1Merck Center for Catalysis at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
Abstract:
The direct conversion of aliphatic carboxylic acids to the corresponding alkyl fluorides has been achieved via visible light-promoted photoredox catalysis. This operationally simple, redox-neutral fluorination method is amenable to a wide variety of carboxylic acids. Photon-induced oxidation of carboxylates leads to the formation of carboxyl radicals, which upon rapid CO2-extrusion and F(•) transfer from a fluorinating reagent yield the desired fluoroalkanes with high efficiency. Experimental evidence indicates that an oxidative quenching pathway is operable in this broadly applicable fluorination protocol.
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