Recent Advances in Fluorination Reactions via De-Carboxylative and De-Oxygenative Strategies: A Perspective

Organic fluorine compounds encompass a vast and diverse variety of species that possess unique biological activity due to the presence of fluorine atoms. Fluorine is highly electronegative, increases the lipophilicity (fat-solubility) and hydrophobicity (water-repellent nature) of molecules, often exhibit remarkable chemical and thermal stability. This is especially useful in drug design, as it can improve the bioavailability of pharmaceutical compounds and help them interact more effectively with biological membranes. The growing demand for fluorinated compounds in materials science, agrochemicals, and medicine has made selective fluorine incorporation into organic molecules a challenging but necessary component of modern organic synthesis. Development of C-F building blocks are invaluable in organic synthesis due to their ability to impart chemical stability, selectivity, and reactivity to organic molecules. This article provides a detailed analysis of two popular fluorination processes: deoxyfluorination and decarboxyfluorination. Deoxyfluorination is the process of enhancing the physicochemical properties of molecules by replacing hydroxyl groups with fluorine atoms. Decarboxyfluorination is a type of chemical reaction where transformation of carboxylic acid derivatives into fluorinated compounds. The various fluorinating reagents, mechanistic processes, synthetic uses and substrate scope are covered in this section. When combined, these novel transformation strategies provide effective and focused approaches to the production of C-F bonds, offering useful resources for obtaining fluorinated compounds. This review mainly focuses on the construction of fluorinated compounds via deoxygenative and decarboxylative fluorination since 2011. We hope this review offers a useful conceptual overview and inspires further advancements in the efficient construction of C-F bond.