New synthetic approaches toward OCF₃-containing compounds

Fluorinated organic compounds are an important class of organic molecules and play a key role in both academic and industrial communities due to the unique nature of fluorine. Among the fluorine-containing functional groups, the OCF₃ group is of vital importance because of its favorable physicochemical properties, so it frequently acts as the pivotal skeletal motif in a broad spectrum of pharmaceutical molecules, agrochemicals, natural products, and materials. Over the past few decades, a wider range of strategies for the efficient, versatile, and practical synthesis of trifluoromethoxylated compounds have been the focus of a number of research initiatives. These synthesis approaches are especially fascinating in the context of the design of agrochemicals and new drugs as established pathways for installing the OCF₃ moiety. In this review, the state of the art of the synthesis of OCF₃-containing compounds is summarized. It can be segmented into six categories: (1) de novo formation of the OCF₃ group; (2) construction of trifluoromethoxylated compounds via trifluoromethylation of the corresponding alcohol or phenol; (3) construction of trifluoromethoxylated compounds via installing the entire OCF₃ group straightaway onto a complex molecule; (4) visible-light-induced trifluoromethoxylation; (5) transition metal-catalyzed trifluoromethoxylation; and (6) construction of the trifluoromethoxylated compounds via rearrangement reactions.