Room Temperature Regioselective Catalytic Hydrodefluorination of Fluoroarenes with trans-Ru(NHC)(4)H-2 through a Concerted Nucleophilic Ru-H Attack Pathway

摘要

The efficient and highly selective room temperature hydrodefluorination (HDF) of fluoroarenes by the trans-Ru(IMe4)(4)H-2 catalyst, 3, is reported. Mechanistic studies show 3 acts directly in catalysis without any ligand dissociation and DFT calculations indicate a concerted nucleophilic attack mechanism. The calculations fully account for the observed selectivities which corroborate earlier predictions regarding the selectivity of HDF.