One aspect of the invention relates to a metal-catalyzed conversion of aryl halides and sulfonates to the corresponding aryl fluorides. Another aspect of the invention relates to a metal-catalyzed conversion of heteroaryl halides and sulfonates to the corresponding heteroaryl fluorides. Another aspect of the invention relates to a metal-catalyzed conversion of vinyl halides and sulfonates to the corresponding vinyl fluorides. In certain embodiments, simple fluoride sources, such as AgF and CsF, are used. In certain embodiments, the transformations tolerate a wide range of functional groups, allowing for introduction of fluorine atoms into highly functionalized organic molecules.
Aryl–secondary alkyl cross-coupling with aryl sulfonate esters as coupling partners remains a significant challenge. Efficient cross-coupling between aryl/alkenyl triflates and acyclicsecondary alkylboronic acids is realized for the first time to provide a series of sterically congested acyclicsecondary alkyl arenes/olefins in good to excellent yields. The employment of sterically bulky P,PO ligand L1/L2 is