Trifluoromethanesulfonyl azide as a bifunctional reagent for metal-free azidotrifluoromethylation of unactivated alkenes

Vicinal trifluoromethyl azides have widespread applications in organic synthesis and drug development. However, their preparation is generally limited to transition-metal-catalyzed three-component reactions. We report here a simple and metal-free method that rapidly provides these building blocks from abundant alkenes and trifluoromethanesulfonyl azide (N(3)SO(2)CF(3)). This unprecedented two-component reaction employs readily available N(3)SO(2)CF(3) as a bifunctional reagent to concurrently incorporate both CF(3) and N(3) groups, which avoids the use of their expensive and low atom economic precursors. A wide range of functional groups, including bio-relevant heterocycles and amino acids, were tolerated. Application of this method was further demonstrated by scale-up synthesis (5 mmol), product derivatization to CF(3)-containing medicinal chemistry motifs, as well as late-stage modification of natural product and drug derivatives.