Origami with small molecules: exploiting the C–F bond as a conformational tool

• Patrick Ryan,
• Ramsha Iftikhar and
• Luke Hunter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 680–716, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.54

• . First, π → σ*O–C(F) hyperconjugation is stronger in the trifluoromethyl case. Second, the steric demand of the trifluoromethyl group would cause a significant clash with the aryl moiety in the planar conformation. The increased accessibility of the orthogonal conformation of highly fluorinated ethers is

Vinylogous functionalization of 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles with methyl trifluoropyruvates

• Judit Hostalet-Romero,
• Laura Carceller-Ferrer,
• Gonzalo Blay,
• Amparo Sanz-Marco,
• José R. Pedro and
• Carlos Vila

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 533–540, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.41

• between 4-alkylidene-5-aminopyrazoles and alkyl trifluoropyruvates leading to highly functionalized tertiary alcohols bearing a trifluoromethyl group and a pyrazole ring is presented. The corresponding trifluoromethyl alcohols are obtained in moderate to good yields (up to 80%) and high

Dioxazolones as electrophilic amide sources in copper-catalyzed and -mediated transformations

• Seungmin Lee,
• Minsuk Kim,
• Hyewon Han and
• Jongwoo Son

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 200–216, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.12

• , styrene derivatives bearing both electron-rich and electron-poor groups underwent the desired transformation with high yields and enantioselectivities (23g and 23h). However, the styrene scaffold bearing a trifluoromethyl group showed reduced enantioselectivity (23i). Styrenes containing heterocyclic

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of 2-fluorobenzofurans with arylboronic acids via aromatic C–F bond activation

• Takeshi Fujita,
• Haruna Yabuki,
• Ryutaro Morioka,
• Kohei Fuchibe and
• Junji Ichikawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 146–154, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.8

• at the 4-position (2d) also produced high yields (94–98%). For arylboronic acid 2f, which has a methoxy group at the 4-position, the use of potassium phosphate as a base resulted in a 94% yield of 3bf. For arylboronic acid 2g, which features a strongly electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group, we

gem-Difluorovinyl and trifluorovinyl Michael acceptors in the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated fluorinated and nonfluorinated amides

• Monika Bilska-Markowska,
• Marcin Kaźmierczak,
• Wojciech Jankowski and
• Marcin Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2946–2953, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.247

• of 1-fluorobis(phenylsulfonyl)methane (FBSM) to α,β-unsaturated ketones with cinchona alkaloids [9]. Fluorinated Michael acceptors usually contain one fluorine atom or a trifluoromethyl group in the structure [10][11][12]. There are also known examples of gem-difluoroalkenes being used as Michael

Development of a flow photochemical process for a π-Lewis acidic metal-catalyzed cyclization/radical addition sequence: in situ-generated 2-benzopyrylium as photoredox catalyst and reactive intermediate

• Masahiro Terada,
• Zen Iwasaki,
• Ryohei Yazaki,
• Shigenobu Umemiya and
• Jun Kikuchi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1973–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.173

• batch reaction (Table 2, entry 4: 57% vs 10%). The reaction of 1e substituted with a strong electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group afforded the product 3e in high yield (Table 2, entry 5: 77%), again confirming the high efficiency of the flow reaction system (batch: 54%). Next, the effects of the

• substituent at the meta-position were investigated. Substrate 1f having a methoxy group afforded compound 3f in only moderate yield (Table 2, entry 6: 39%), similar to the batch reaction (40%). The reactions of substrates having a methyl, bromo, or trifluoromethyl group gave the corresponding products 3g–i

• , respectively, in high yields (Table 3, entries 4 and 5). The aldehyde 1q bearing a strong electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group at the para-position gave product 3q in moderate yield (Table 3, entry 6: 63%), with the recovery of substrate 1q (18%). The reaction of ortho-methyl-substituted aldehyde 1r

Novel oxidative routes to N-arylpyridoindazolium salts

• Oleg A. Levitskiy,
• Yuri K. Grishin and
• Tatiana V. Magdesieva

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1906–1913, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.166

• contained some other compounds, which have not been identified. Among the amines studied, amine A3 is less prone to oxidation (due to the electron-withdrawing effect of the trifluoromethyl group) and is the less basic; the presence of a lutidine base even more fastens deprotonation of the radical cation

Visible-light-induced radical cascade cyclization: a catalyst-free synthetic approach to trifluoromethylated heterocycles

• Chuan Yang,
• Wei Shi,
• Jian Tian,
• Lin Guo,
• Yating Zhao and
• Wujiong Xia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 118–124, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.12

• enables a rapid access to heterocycles containing a trifluoromethyl group. Keywords: cascade reaction; indole derivatives; photocatalysis; radical chain process; trifluoromethylation; Introduction Dihydropyrido[1,2-a]indolone (DHPI) skeletons are commonly found in natural products and pharmaceutical

• an electron-withdrawing functional moiety into drug molecules would increase their metabolic stability [20], by avoiding, e.g., fast oxidation by cytochrome P450 oxidases [21]. In particular, the introduction of a trifluoromethyl group (–CF3) was shown to increase the metabolic stability of molecules

• (Table 1, entry 16). With the optimized conditions in hand, we started to explore the scope of this photoinduced transformation. Various alkene-tethered indole derivatives were subjected to the reaction. Remarkably, a range of dihydropyrido[1,2-a]indolones bearing a trifluoromethyl group were obtained in

Trifluoromethylated hydrazones and acylhydrazones as potent nitrogen-containing fluorinated building blocks

• Zhang Dongxu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1741–1754, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.127

• -withdrawing property of the trifluoromethyl group is key to this coupling reaction [45] (Scheme 7). Trifluoromethylated hydrazonoyl halides Hydrazonoyl halides, which offer a reactive 1,3-dipole, can easily be transformed to nitrile imines in the presence of a base, and they have shown to be useful building

Visible-light-induced nickel-catalyzed α-hydroxytrifluoroethylation of alkyl carboxylic acids: Access to trifluoromethyl alkyl acyloins

• Feng Chen,
• Xiu-Hua Xu,
• Zeng-Hao Chen,
• Yue Chen and
• Feng-Ling Qing

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1372–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.98

• important functional groups such as dicarbonyls [15], diols [16], amino ketones [17] and so on. Recently, the introduction of a trifluoromethyl group into organic molecules has received great attention due to their wide applicability in medicinal [18][19] and materials [20][21] chemistry. The toxicological

Synthesis, structure, and properties of switchable cross-conjugated 1,4-diaryl-1,3-butadiynes based on 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene

• Semyon V. Tsybulin,
• Ekaterina A. Filatova,
• Alexander F. Pozharskii,
• Valery A. Ozeryanskii and
• Anna V. Gulevskaya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 674–686, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.49

• trifluoromethyl group of one independent molecule is disordered with an occupancy of fluorine atoms of 0.54/0.46, which makes the molecule asymmetric. The second independent molecule has an inversion center. Compared to the free bases 5 discussed above, the protonated form 11с demonstrates almost complete

On drug discovery against infectious diseases and academic medicinal chemistry contributions

• Yves L. Janin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1355–1378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.141

• example of a very late stage functionalization of molecule would be the use of zinc sulfinate chemistry [297] which, as depicted here, allowed to introduce in one step a trifluoromethyl group on the hydroquinidine 47 and access the otherwise rather hard-to-get compound 48. In fact, CH functionalization is

Heterogeneous metallaphotoredox catalysis in a continuous-flow packed-bed reactor

• Wei-Hsin Hsu,
• Susanne Reischauer,
• Peter H. Seeberger,
• Bartholomäus Pieber and
• Dario Cambié

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1123–1130, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.115

• systematically study the cross-coupling using the packed-bed reactor, we decided to equip the continuous-flow setup with a dedicated tool for in-line analysis. Such techniques enable rapid investigations of process-related parameters [34]. In particular, the presence of a trifluoromethyl group in the substrate

Synthesis of novel alkynyl imidazopyridinyl selenides: copper-catalyzed tandem selenation of selenium with 2-arylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and terminal alkynes

• Mio Matsumura,
• Kaho Tsukada,
• Kiwa Sugimoto,
• Yuki Murata and
• Shuji Yasuike

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 863–871, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.87

• halogen groups at the 6-position of the imidazopyridine ring were tested and gave the desired products 4ba–ea in fair to good yields (Table 2, entries 8–11). Conversely, imidazopyridine 1f with an electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group did not yield the corresponding product 4fa, because the

• –Prakash reagent (TMSCF3) in the presence of Cs2CO3 as base in MeCN at 0 °C gave product 7 with a trifluoromethyl group. Stefani et al. reported the 1,3-dipolar azide–alkyne cycloaddition (AAC) of organotellanyl alkynes with organic azides in the presence of a copper reagent to form 5-organotellanyl-1,2,3

Unusual highly diastereoselective Rh(II)-catalyzed dimerization of 3-diazo-2-arylidenesuccinimides provides access to a new dibenzazulene scaffold

• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Alexander S. Bunev,
• Andrey Yu. Kudinov,
• Grigory Kantin,
• Mikhail Krasavin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 533–538, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.55

• of DAS 1i containing a trifluoromethyl group in the arylidene ring (Table 1, entry 9). In the latter case, the negative effect of the presence of the electron-withdrawing group also manifested itself in a significant decrease in the yield of the target dimer 2 due to the formation of unidentified

Synthesis of 3,4,5-trisubstituted isoxazoles in water via a [3 + 2]-cycloaddition of nitrile oxides and 1,3-diketones, β-ketoesters, or β-ketoamides

• Md Imran Hossain,
• Md Imdadul H. Khan,
• Seong Jong Kim and
• Hoang V. Le

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 446–458, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.47

• the nucleophilic addition and successive cyclization to happen. In addition, we further explored the scope of substrates with a trifluoromethyl group, a strong electron-withdrawing substituent, instead of methyl, an electron-donating group, in the 1,3-diketone starting materials (Table 2). The

Synthesis of highly substituted fluorenones via metal-free TBHP-promoted oxidative cyclization of 2-(aminomethyl)biphenyls. Application to the total synthesis of nobilone

• Ilya A. P. Jourjine,
• Lukas Zeisel,
• Jürgen Krauß and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2668–2679, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.181

• both 10e and 10b starting from amine 15b2. The same trend concerning relative yields between regioisomers can be observed for fluorenones bearing the electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group in the same positions (see 10g, 10h, 10i1, and 10i2). This is rather surprising, as electronic effects exerted

Recent advances in the tandem annulation of 1,3-enynes to functionalized pyridine and pyrrole derivatives

• Yi Liu,
• Puying Luo,
• Yang Fu,
• Tianxin Hao,
• Xuan Liu,
• Qiuping Ding and
• Yiyuan Peng

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2462–2476, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.163

• standard conditions. The proposed catalytic cycle included aza-Michael addition of arylamines, Lewis acid copper(II)-catalyzed intramolecular 5-endo-dig cyclization, protonation, and oxidation to provide the final products, tetrasubstituted pyrroles 39. The introduction of a trifluoromethyl group into

A novel methodology for the efficient synthesis of 3-monohalooxindoles by acidolysis of 3-phosphate-substituted oxindoles with haloid acids

• Li Liu,
• Yue Li,
• Tiao Huang,
• Dulin Kong and
• Mingshu Wu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2321–2328, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.150

• , i.e., benzyl and ethyl, slightly decreased the yields of the products (see 4n and 4o). Regrettably, when a substrate 2 bearing a strong electron-withdrawing nitro or trifluoromethyl group on the phenyl ring was employed, the reaction gave very complex side products under the standard conditions, and

Photoredox catalysis in nickel-catalyzed C–H functionalization

• Lusina Mantry,
• Rajaram Maayuri,
• Vikash Kumar and
• Parthasarathy Gandeepan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2209–2259, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.143

• and co-workers (Scheme 35) [113]. This defluorinative functionalization protocol set the stage for the introduction of gem-difluoroalkene motifs into α-amino C(sp3)–H sites. Interestingly, substrates having a trifluoromethyl group on the amide backbone enabled the functionalization of δ C(sp3)–H bonds

2,4-Bis(arylethynyl)-9-chloro-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroacridines: synthesis and photophysical properties

• Najeh Tka,
• Mohamed Adnene Hadj Ayed,
• Mourad Ben Braiek,
• Mahjoub Jabli,
• Noureddine Chaaben,
• Kamel Alimi,
• Stefan Jopp and
• Peter Langer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1629–1640, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.115

• containing electron-donating substituents. For example, arylacetylene 3g, bearing a methoxy group, gave the best chemical yield of 93%. However, in case of the electron-attracting trifluoromethyl group (3e), we obtained a somewhat lower, but still good yield of 75%. Photophysical properties As a prominent

• , derivatives 4e and 4f bearing an electron-deficient fluoro or trifluoromethyl group show a hyperchromic shift of their bands located between 340 and 380 nm. In case of the electron-donating methoxy substituent (4g), a bathochromic shift was observed. Besides, a new band appeared at 321 nm which may be

Iodine-catalyzed electrophilic substitution of indoles: Synthesis of (un)symmetrical diindolylmethanes with a quaternary carbon center

• Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar,
• Masoud Sedaghati,
• Andhika B. Mahardhika,
• Lukas L. Wendt and
• Christa E. Müller

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1464–1475, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.102

• reaction with differently substitute indole derivatives 2. Substrate scope of the reaction of 1f–i with trifluoromethyl(indolyl)phenylmethanols 1: modification of the aryl group. Substrate scope of the reaction of 1j–l with trifluoromethyl(indolyl)phenylmethanols 1: modification of the trifluoromethyl

• group. Binding affinities of unsymmetrical fluoromethyl-substituted DIM derivatives for cannabinoid receptors. Supporting Information Supporting Information File 150: Experimental and analytical data. Funding T.P. is grateful to the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) foundation and to Bayer Pharma for a

N-tert-Butanesulfinyl imines in the asymmetric synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles

• Joseane A. Mendes,
• Paulo R. R. Costa,
• Miguel Yus,
• Francisco Foubelo and
• Camilla D. Buarque

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1096–1140, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.86

• is present in the reaction medium [74]. The trifluoromethyl group occupies an equatorial position to avoid electrostatic repulsion with the lone pair of electrons of the sulfinyl group. The nucleophilic attack took place to the Si face of the ketimine 37 (Scheme 13). Recently, Yang and co-workers

Synthesis of N-perfluoroalkyl-3,4-disubstituted pyrroles by rhodium-catalyzed transannulation of N-fluoroalkyl-1,2,3-triazoles with terminal alkynes

• Olga Bakhanovich,
• Viktor Khutorianskyi,
• Vladimir Motornov and
• Petr Beier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 504–510, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.44

• ][22], and pyrroles [19]. The use of fluorine atoms and fluoro groups (including the trifluoromethyl group) is a widely used strategy to improve the properties of drug candidates or agrochemicals [23][24][25][26][27][28]. The development of new methods for the synthesis of selectively fluorinated and

• an electrophile, the crude product 2a was treated with butyllithium, followed by the reaction with carbon dioxide to afford pyrrole carboxylic acid 6 in a good overall yield (Scheme 5). The trifluoromethyl group on the nitrogen was not affected by these highly basic reaction conditions. The mechanism

CF₃-substituted carbocations: underexploited intermediates with great potential in modern synthetic chemistry

• Anthony J. Fernandes,
• Armen Panossian,
• Bastien Michelet,
• Agnès Martin-Mingot,
• Frédéric R. Leroux and
• Sébastien Thibaudeau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 343–378, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.32

• material sciences [14][15][16][17]. In this context, deciphering the impact that can be exerted by the trifluoromethyl group on a cation and the associated consequences when facing the challenge of developing innovative synthetic methods are the subjects of this review. Review Quantitative parameters

• certain extent upon the electron demand in the system to which it is attached”. Thus, despite the strong intrinsic electron-withdrawing character, the trifluoromethyl group was shown to modestly act as a π-electron donor when substituting a carbenium ion. Ab initio calculations were performed to account