A Radical Revolution for Trifluoromethoxylation

Abstract

The study of OCF₃ -substituted molecules is somewhat hampered by a lack of diverse synthetic methods to access them. By introducing a new mild and practical reaction system for accessing the ^. OCF₃ radical, a recent study by Liu, Ngai, and co-workers has the potential to dramatically expand the scope of direct trifluoromethoxylation. The features of this ground-breaking system are discussed and placed into context with other recent advances on nucleophilic trifluoromethoxylation.

Keywords: fluorine; methodology development; photochemistry; radical chemistry; trifluoromethoxylation.