Straightforward practical synthetic approaches to 3,4-bis- and 3,4,5-tris(trifluoromethyl)pyrazoles have been developed. The key step of the both syntheses is a transformation of the carboxylic group in a pyrazole core into the trifluoromethyl group by sulfur tetrafluoride. The elaborated synthetic protocols allow gram-scale preparation of the target products. The obtained compounds are comprehensively characterized by means of crystallographic analysis, determination of pK(a) values and fluorescence measurements.

A simple and cost-effective one-pot parallel synthesis approach to sulfides, sulfoxides, and sulfones from thiourea was elaborated. The method combines two procedures optimized to the parallel synthesis conditions: alkylation of thiourea with alkyl chlorides and mono or full oxidation of in situ generated sulfides with H2O2 or H2O2-(NH4)2MoO4. The experimental set up required commonly used lab equipment: conventional oven and ultrasonic bath; the work up includes filtration or extraction with chloroform. The method was evaluated on an 81 member library of drug-like sulfides, sulfoxides, and sulfones yielding the compounds on a 30-300 mg scale. A small-scale synthesis of 2-(benzhydrylsulfinyl)acetamide (modafinil) utilizing our approach resulted in similar efficiency to the published procedures.

A library of fused pyridine-4-carboxylic acids (including pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines, isoxazolo[5,4-b]pyridines, furo[2,3-b]pyridines, thieno[2,3-b]pyridines, and pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines) was generated by Combes-type reaction of acyl pyruvates and electron-rich amino heterocycles followed by hydrolysis of the ester. The library members were also demonstrated to undergo the standard combinatorial transformations including amide coupling and esterification, as well as less common heterocyclizations to 1,2,4-triazoles and 1,2,4-oxadiazoles.