Direct Decarboxylation of Trifluoroacetates Enabled by Iron Photocatalysis

Trifluoroacetates are the most abundant and accessible sources of trifluoromethyl groups, which are key components in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. The generation of trifluoromethyl reactive radicals from trifluoroacetates requires their decarboxylation, which is hampered by their high oxidation potential. This constitutes a major challenge for redox-based methods, because of the need to pair the redox potentials with trifluoroacetate. Here we report a strategy based on iron photocatalysis to promote the direct photodecarboxylation of trifluoroacetates that displays reactivity features that escape from redox limitations. Our synthetic design has enabled the use of trifluoroacetates for the trifluoromethylation of more easily oxidizable organic substrates, offering new opportunities for late-stage derivatization campaigns using chemical feedstocks, Earth-abundant catalysts, and visible-light.