Comprehensive Study and Development of a Metal‐Free and Mild Nucleophilic Trifluoromethoxylation

Abstract

Among the general interest in fluorinated compounds, trifluoromethoxylated molecules play a specific role. However, despite this interest, the development of efficient reagents to perform trifluoromethoxylation reactions remains a challenge. Here, 2,4‐dinitro‐trifluoromethoxybenzene (DNTFB) is used as a trifluoromethoxylating reagent to perform nucleophilic substitution under mild metal‐free conditions with different leaving groups, including direct dehydroxytrifluoromethoxylation. A mechanistic study rationalized the reaction and subsequently proposed only three reaction conditions, depending on the reactivity of the starting substrates.