Transition-metal mediated transformations of tetrafluoroethylene into various polyfluorinated organic compounds

Abstract

This account describes our studies on the transition-metal mediated transformation of tetrafluoroethylene into a variety of polyfluorinated organic compounds. We have divided our account into three main parts. First, we describe a series of palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that involve a C-F bond cleavage of tetrafluoroethylene as a key elementary reaction step. Also described are reactions that enable the construction of tetrafluoroethylene-bridging structures, such as R-CF 2CF 2-R' and R-CF 2CF 2-H, from tetra-fluoroethylene using either copper(I) or nickel(0) species. This account emphasizes the merits of a derivatization of readily available perfluorinated compounds to valuable highly fluorinated organic compounds.