One-Pot Deoxygenation and Substitution of Alcohols Mediated by Sulfuryl Fluoride

Sulfuryl fluoride is a valuable reagent for the one-pot activation and derivatization of aliphatic alcohols, but the highly reactive alkyl fluorosulfate intermediates limit both the types of reactions that can be accessed as well as the scope. Herein, we report the SO₂F₂-mediated alcohol substitution and deoxygenation method that relies on the conversion of fluorosulfates to alkyl halide intermediates. This strategy allows the expansion of SO₂F₂-mediated one-pot processes to include radical reactions, where the alkyl halides can also be exploited in the one-pot deoxygenation of primary alcohols under mild conditions (52-95% yield). This strategy can also enhance the scope of substitutions to nucleophiles that are previously incompatible with one-pot SO₂F₂-mediated alcohol activation and enables substitution of primary and secondary alcohols in 54-95% yield. Chiral secondary alcohols undergo a highly stereospecific (90-98% ee) double nucleophilic displacement with an overall retention of configuration.