Transition‐Metal‐Mediated and ‐Catalyzed C−F Bond Activation by Fluorine Elimination

The activation of carbon–fluorine (C−F) bonds is an important topic in synthetic organic chemistry. Metal‐mediated and ‐catalyzed elimination of β‐ or α‐fluorine proceeds under milder conditions than oxidative addition to C−F bonds. The β‐ or α‐fluorine elimination is initiated from organometallic intermediates having fluorine substituents on carbon atoms β or α to metal centers, respectively. Transformations through these elimination processes (C−F bond cleavage), which are typically preceded by carbon–carbon (or carbon–heteroatom) bond formation, have been increasingly developed in the past five years as C−F bond activation methods. In this Minireview, we summarize the applications of transition‐metal‐mediated and ‐catalyzed fluorine elimination to synthetic organic chemistry from a historical perspective with early studies and from a systematic perspective with recent studies. Eliminate to activate: Metal‐mediated and ‐catalyzed elimination of β‐ or α‐fluorine proceeds under mild conditions, starting from organometallic intermediates with fluorine substituents on the carbon atoms β or α to the metal centers, respectively. Recently, these elimination processes have been used in the development of a variety of methods for activating C−F bonds.