Patent GB-1244642-A (GB)
Title: Fluoration of unsaturated organic compounds
IPC: C07H15/04
Filed: 1968-09-10
Abstract: 1,244,642. Fluorination of unsaturated organic compounds. RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR MEDICINE & CHEMISTRY Inc. 10 Sept., 1968 [11 Sept., 1967; 12 June, 1968], No. 43026/68. Headings C2A, C2C and C2U. Electrophilic fluorination of unsaturated organic compounds is effected with a hypofluorite the fluoroxy group of which is covalently bonded to an inert electron attracting group, in an inert solvent. Suitable hypofluorites include fluoroalkyl hypofluorites and pentafluorosulphur hypofluorites, and the preferred reagent is trifluoromethyl hypofluorite. Reaction temperatures are generally in the range of -20 to -100 C., conveniently about -78 C., but may be higher with deactivated substrates. Suitable solvents are fluoro-alkanes such as trichloromonofluoromethane or dichlorotetrafluoroethane, with or without a further solvent such as a chlorohydrocarbon, a ketone or a cyclic or acyclic ether, often desirably with addition of a base. The hypofluorite reagent may be prepared for example from fluorine and oxygenated compounds e.g. alcohols, carbon monoxide in the presence of silver fluoride as catalyst, or perfluorocarbonyl compounds in the presence of metal fluoride catalysts; these reactions may be effected with less than the stoichiometric quantity of fluorine so that virtually no unreacted fluorine remains after reaction, the initial reaction products being purified by washing with an aqueous medium e.g. water or an aqueous solution of a fluoride salt, and removing water from the washed products e.g. by passing the gaseous mixture containing the reagent through a trap at -20 to -80 C. The reagent is preferably used immediately in the fluorination reaction without storage, and the whole process of reagent production and fluorination may be a continuous one. The fluorination process results in the addition of at least one fluorine atom to the unsaturated linkage the position of the fluorine depending usually on the adjacent groupings; in general a second substituent is introduced at the same time or internal rearrangement takes place; addition is almost invariably cis. Hydrolysis of a number of the products is described. Novel products are 9α,- 12# - difluoro - 11 - keto - steroids; 11 - fluoro- 12 - keto - 9(11) - dehydro - steroids; 9α- perfluoroalkoxy - 11α - fluoro - 12 - keto - steroids; 5 - fluoro - griseofulvin; 1,1 - bis - pchlorophenyl - 2 - fluoro - 1 - trifluoromethoxy - 2,2 - dichloroethane; and 1,1 - bis - p - chlorophenyl - 1,2 - difluoro - 2,2 - dichloroethane. Other products described include other fluorinated steroids, the thebaine derivative of the formula 2,6 - dimethyl - 6 - fluoro - cyclohexa - 2,4- dienone, α - fluoro - N - acetyl - # - naphthylamine, 1 - ethoxy - 1 - acetamido - 2,4 - difluoro - 3 - trifluoromethoxy - tetrahydronaphthalene (which on hydrolysis gives N- acetyl - 1 - amino - 2,4 - difluoronaphthalene), 3- and 5-fluoro-salicylic acids, 3-fluoro-salicylamide, 2 - fluoro - 3 - trifluoromethoxy - 2,3- dihydrobenzofuran (which on hydrolysis gives 3 - fluoromethoxy - benzofuran), 2,3 - difluoro- 2,3 - dihydrobenzofuran (which on hydrolysis gives 3 - fluorobenzofuran), 1,2,3,4 - tetrafluoro- 1,2,3,4 - tetrahydronaphthalene, 1,2 - difluoro- 1,2 - diphenyl - 1 - trifluoromethoxyethane, 2 - fluoro - 2 - desoxy - 1 - trifluoromethoxy- 3,4,6 - tri - O - acetyl - D - glucose and 1,2- difluoro - 2 - desoxy - 3,4,6 - tri - O - acetyl- D-glucose (a mixture of these products on reaction with BF 3  in CH 3 OH gives the α- and #- anomers of 2 - desoxy - 2 - fluoro - 3,4,6 - tri- O-acetyl-methyl-D-glucoside.) .)