Fluorine has received great attention in all fields of science. “Small atom with a big ego” was the title of the Symposium at the ACS meeting in San Francisco in 2000, where a number of the current scientific and industrial aspects of fluorine chemistry made possible by the small size and high electronegativity of the atom were discussed. This small atom has provided mankind with significant benefits in special products such as poly(tetrafluroethylene) (PTFE), freon, fluoro-liquid crystals, optical fiber, pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds, and so on, all of which have their own unique properties that are otherwise difficult to obtain.1 For instance, at present, up to 30% of agrochemicals and 10% of pharmaceuticals currently used contain fluorine atoms. Therefore, organic fluorine compounds have received a great deal of interest and attention from the scientists involved in diverse fields of science and technology. Now, not only C-F bond formation but also selective C-F bond activation have become current subjects of active investigation from the viewpoint of effective synthesis of fluoroorganic compounds. The former is highlighted by designing a sophisticated fluorinating reagent for regioand stereocontrolled fluorination and developing versatile multifunctional and easily prepared building blocks. C-F bond formation has been treated extensively in several reviews2 and books.3 The latter is a subject that has been less explored but would be promising for selective defluorination of aliphatic fluorides, cross-coupling with aryl fluorides, and * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Phone: 81-78-803-5799. Fax: 81-78-803-5799. E-mail: amii@kobe-u.ac.jp and uneyamak@cc.okayamau.ac.jp. † Kobe University. ‡ Okayama University. Chem. Rev. 2009, 109, 2119–2183 2119

C-F bond activation in organic synthesis.

Perfluoroalkylation with Organosilicon Reagents

Organic electrosynthesis: a promising green methodology in organic chemistry

Transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of alkyl metals and aryl halides or pseudohalides have emerged as a powerful methodology for the formation of Csp3-Csp2 bonds over the past decades.1 However, significant attention has also been focused on Pdand Ni-catalyzed Csp3-Csp2 bond-forming reactions that involve aryl metals and haloalkyl compounds lacking -hydrogen atoms as cross-coupling partners.2 In contrast, until a few years ago, few examples were reported in the literature concerning transition metalcatalyzed reactions of aryl metals with functionalized alkyl halides including R-halocarbonyl compounds and R-bromosulfones bearing -hydrogen atoms,3 and a single example of Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of aryl metals and unfunctionalized alkyl halides bearing -hydrogen atoms had been described.4 Only in recent years, successful procedures for the Pd-,5 Ni-,6 Rh-,7 Fe-,8 V-,9 Co-,10 and Cu-catalyzed11 cross-coupling reactions of aryl metals and unfunctionalized alkyl halides bearing -hydrogen atoms have been developed.12 Nevertheless, new, effective, and more environmentallybenignmethodologiesfortheformationof(cyclo)alkyl-aryl bonds, which require a reduced number of synthetic operations, have emerged as valuable alternatives to the conventional cross-coupling reactions. These methodologies (Scheme 1) are based on transition metal-catalyzed simple or 2-fold C-H bond functionalization according to the following approaches: (a) highly regioselective Pd-catalyzed direct arylation reactions of unactivated sp3-hybridized C-H bonds with aryl halides (eq a, Scheme 1);13 (b) Pd-catalyzed direct alkylation reactions of aryl C-H bonds with alkyl metals (eq b, Scheme 1);14 Au-15 or Pdcatalyzed16 direct alkylation reactions of aryl C-H bonds with alkyl halides or pseudohalides (eq c, Scheme 1); (d) Pd-catalyzed arylations of unactivated sp3-hybridized C-H bonds with aryl metals (eq d, Scheme 1);14c (e) Pd-, Ru-, or Cu-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of sp3-hybridized C-H bonds with arylboronic acids using air as oxidant (eq d, Scheme 1);17 and (f) cross-dehydrogenative coupling of alkyl and aryl C-H bonds (eq e, Scheme 1).18 Finally, great attention, particularly in the past decade, has also been focused on the design, development, and application of transition metal-catalyzed coupling reactions of aryl halides and pseudohalides with a wide variety of substrates containing activated sp3-hybridized C-H bonds (eq f, Scheme 1). A mini-review on this topic was published by Scolastico and Poli in 1999,19 and three excellent reviews that concern the results obtained in this rapidly growing area of extensive research by the groups of Miura, Natsume, Hartwig, and Buchwald up to the end of 2002 were published by Miura,20 Hartwig,21 and Lloyd-Jones22 a few years later. However, the reviews by Miura20 and Hartwig21 were limited in that they fundamentally emphasized the author’s own work and * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rossi@dcci.unipi.it. Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 1082–1146 1082

Transition metal-catalyzed direct arylation of substrates with activated sp3-hybridized C-H bonds and some of their synthetic equivalents with aryl halides and pseudohalides.

Arylated products are found in various fields of chemistry and represent essential entities for many applications. Therefore, the formation of this structural feature represents a central issue of contemporary organic synthesis. By the action of electricity the necessity of leaving groups, metal catalysts, stoichiometric oxidizers, or reducing agents can be omitted in part or even completely. The replacement of conventional reagents by sustainable electricity not only will be environmentally benign but also allows significant short cuts in electrochemical synthesis. In addition, this methodology can be considered as inherently safe. The current survey is organized in cathodic and anodic conversions as well as by the number of leaving groups being involved. In some electroconversions the reagents used are regenerated at the electrode, whereas in other electrotransformations free radical sequences are exploited to afford a highly sustainable process. The electrochemical formation of the aryl–substrate bond ...

Electrochemical Arylation Reaction.

Selective electrochemical synthesis and reactivity of functional benzylic fluorosilylsynthons

Selective Electrosynthesis of (Trimethylsilyldifluoro)methylbenzene, a PhCF2- Precursor; Conditions for a Molar Scale Preparation without HMPA

L'électrosynthèse, une voie simple d'accès aux di- et polysilanes

The electroreductive trimethylsilylation of aryl chlorides R-C 6 H 4 Cl (R=H, o-Me, m-Me, p-Me) can be controlled so as to give, in good yields, either the corresponding aryltrimethylsilanes(products of the reduction of the carbon-chlorine bond) or mixtures of cis- and trans-tris(trimethylsilyl)cyclohexa-1,3(or 1,4)-dienes (products of the successive reduction of the carbon-chlorine bond and the partial reduction of the aromatic ring)

The electrochemical reductive trimethylsilylation of aryl chlorides : a good route to aryltrimethylsilanes and a novel route to tris(trimethysilyl)cyclohexadienes

The hexamethyldisilazane magnesium salt, a new base readily electrogenerated in an undivided cell fitted with a sacrificial magnesium anode, using a normally equilibrating medium (DME/15% vol HMPA mixture), exhibited a surprising regioselectivity leading to the less highly substituted silyl enol ethers from unsymmetrical ketones. This regioselectivity was not temperature dependent, but was strongly dependent on the nature and proportions of the solvent/cosolvent mixture. Moreover, the reaction was different in pure NMP, and exclusively afforded, from 2-pentanone, the new silylated aldol (56% yield) which resulted from the condensation of the less highly substituted enolate with the ketone.

Michel Bordeau

Papers

Selective electrochemical synthesis and reactivity of functional benzylic fluorosilylsynthons

Selective Electrosynthesis of (Trimethylsilyldifluoro)methylbenzene, a PhCF2- Precursor; Conditions for a Molar Scale Preparation without HMPA

L'électrosynthèse, une voie simple d'accès aux di- et polysilanes

The electrochemical reductive trimethylsilylation of aryl chlorides : a good route to aryltrimethylsilanes and a novel route to tris(trimethysilyl)cyclohexadienes

Regio- and Stereoselective Synthesis of Silyl Enol Ethers Using a New Base Electrogenerated from Hexamethyldisilazane