Synthesis of Fluorinated Compounds by Nickel-Catalyzed Defluorinative Cross-Coupling Reactions

Organofluorine compounds have attracted extensive attention in various industrial fields due to their unique chemical and physical properties. Despite increasing demand in a wide range of scientific fields, the synthesis of organofluorine compounds still faces several problems, such as difficulties in the handling of fluorinating reagents and the control of chemoselectivity. Compared with the formation of C–F bonds, the activation and functionalization of carbon–fluorine bonds is a very important but challenging topic in synthetic chemistry. Due to the unique properties of nickel, Ni-catalyzed defluorinative cross-couplings have been greatly developed in the past few decades as powerful strategies for the construction of fluorinated organic compounds. This Review summarizes important advances in the Ni-catalyzed defluorinative cross-coupling of aryl fluorides, gem-difluorovinyl and trifluoromethyl compounds.