- Kraemer, Yannick;
- Ghiazza, Clément;
- Ragan, Abbey N;
- Ni, Shengyang;
- Lutz, Sigrid;
- Neumann, Elizabeth K;
- Fettinger, James C;
- Nöthling, Nils;
- Goddard, Richard;
- Cornella, Josep;
- Pitts, Cody Ross
We leveraged the recent increase in synthetic accessibility of SF5 Cl and Ar-SF4 Cl compounds to combine chemistry of the SF5 and SF4 Ar groups with strain-release functionalization. By effectively adding SF5 and SF4 Ar radicals across [1.1.1]propellane, we accessed structurally unique bicyclopentanes, bearing two distinct elements of bioisosterism. Upon evaluating these "hybrid isostere" motifs in the solid state, we measured exceptionally short transannular distances; in one case, the distance rivals the shortest nonbonding C⋅⋅⋅C contact reported to date. This prompted SC-XRD and DFT analyses that support the notion that a donor-acceptor interaction involving the "wing" C-C bonds is playing an important role in stabilization. Thus, these heretofore unknown structures expand the palette for highly coveted three-dimensional fluorinated building blocks and provide insight to a more general effect observed in bicyclopentanes.