AbstractN‐Trifluoromethylated organics may be applied in drug design, agrochemical synthesis, and materials science, among other areas. Yet, despite recent advances in the synthesis of aliphatic, cyclic and heterocyclic N‐trifluoromethyl compounds, no strategy based on trifluoromethyl nitrene has hitherto been explored. Here we describe the formation of triplet trifluoromethyl nitrene from azidotrifluoromethane, a stable and safe‐to‐use precursor, by visible light photocatalysis. The addition of CF3N to alkenes via biradical intermediates afforded previously unknown aziridines substituted with trifluoromethyl group on the nitrogen atom. The obtained aziridines were converted into either N‐trifluoromethylimidazolines, via formal [3+2] cycloaddition with nitriles, mediated by a Lewis acid, or into N‐trifluoromethylaldimines, via ring opening and aryl group migration mediated by a strong Brønsted acid. Our findings open new opportunities for the development of novel classes of N‐CF3 compounds with possible applications in the life sciences.
摘要N-三氟甲基有机物可应用于药物设计、农用化学品合成和材料科学等领域。然而,尽管最近在合成脂肪族、环状和杂环 N-三氟甲基化合物方面取得了进展,但迄今为止还没有人探索过基于三氟甲基芘的策略。在此,我们介绍了利用可见光光催化技术从叠氮三氟甲烷(一种稳定且可安全使用的前体)中生成三氟甲基腈的过程。通过双辐射中间体将 CF3N 加到烯烃中,可以得到氮原子上被三氟甲基取代的、之前未知的氮杂环丁烷。在路易斯酸的介导下,获得的氮丙啶通过与腈的正式 [3+2] 环加成转化为 N-三氟甲基咪唑啉;或在强布氏酸的介导下,通过开环和芳基迁移转化为 N-三氟甲基甲醛亚胺。我们的发现为开发可能应用于生命科学领域的新型 N-CF3 化合物提供了新的机遇。