Formation of ArF from LPdAr(F): Catalytic Conversion of Aryl Triflates to Aryl Fluorides

Facile Fluorination Fluorine atoms have become a useful substituent in pharmaceuticals. However, they remain challenging to introduce synthetically because present methods for carbon-fluorine bond formation require either corrosive conditions or somewhat exotic, and thus expensive, reagents. A sticking point has been the failure of traditional palladium catalysts to couple aryl groups with coordinated fluoride. Watson et al. (p. 1661 , published online 13 August; see the Perspective by Gouverneur ) show that pairing palladium with a well-designed phosphine ligand produces a versatile catalyst for aryl fluorination using simple fluoride salts. The method tolerates a range of functional groups and should facilitate efficient syntheses of multiple fluoroaromatic targets.