Stereochemical outcomes of C–F activation reactions of benzyl fluoride

In recent years, the highly polar C–F bond has been utilised in activation chemistry despite its low reactivity to traditional nucleophiles, when compared to other C–X halogen bonds. Paquin’s group has reported extensive studies on the C–F activation of benzylic fluorides for nucleophilic substitutions and Friedel–Crafts reactions, using a range of hydrogen bond donors such as water, triols or hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) as the activators. This study examines the stereointegrity of the C–F activation reaction through the use of an enantiopure isotopomer of benzyl fluoride to identify whether the reaction conditions favour a dissociative (S(N)1) or associative (S(N)2) pathway. [(2)H]-Isotopomer ratios in the reactions were assayed using the Courtieu (2)H NMR method in a chiral liquid crystal (poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) matrix and demonstrated that both associative and dissociative pathways operate to varying degrees, according to the nature of the nucleophile and the hydrogen bond donor.