UC Berkeley

Deconstructive functionalizations involving scission of carbon-carbon double bonds are well established. In contrast, unstrained C(sp³)-C(sp³) bond cleavage and functionalization have less precedent. Here we report the use of deconstructive fluorination to access mono- and difluorinated amine derivatives by C(sp³)-C(sp³) bond cleavage in saturated nitrogen heterocycles such as piperidines and pyrrolidines. Silver-mediated ring-opening fluorination using Selectfluor highlights a strategy for cyclic amine functionalization and late-stage skeletal diversification, establishing cyclic amines as synthons for amino alkyl radicals and providing synthetic routes to valuable building blocks.