Rapid Deoxyfluorination of Alcohols with N‐Tosyl‐4‐chlorobenzenesulfonimidoyl Fluoride (SulfoxFluor) at Room Temperature

The deoxyfluorination of alcohols is a fundamentally important approach to access alkyl fluorides, and thus the development of shelf‐stable, easy‐to‐handle, fluorine‐economical, and highly selective deoxyfluorination reagents is highly desired. This work describes the development of a crystalline compound, N‐tosyl‐4‐chlorobenzenesulfonimidoyl fluoride (SulfoxFluor), as a novel deoxyfluorination reagent that possesses all of the aforementioned merits, which is rare in the arena of deoxyfluorination. Endowed by the multi‐dimensional modulating ability of the sulfonimidoyl group, SulfoxFluor is superior to 2‐pyridinesulfonyl fluoride (PyFluor) in fluorination rate, and is also superior to perfluorobutanesulfonyl fluoride (PBSF) in fluorine‐economy. Its reaction with alcohols not only tolerates a wide range of functionalities including the more sterically hindered alcoholic hydroxyl groups, but also exhibits high fluorination/elimination selectivity. Because SulfoxFluor can be easily prepared from inexpensive materials and can be safely handled without special techniques, it promises to serve as a practical deoxyfluorination reagent for the synthesis of various alkyl fluorides. The deoxyfluorination of alcohols is a fundamentally important approach to access alkyl fluorides, and thus the development of shelf‐stable, easy‐to‐handle, fluorine‐economical, and efficient deoxyfluorination reagents is highly desirable. N‐tosyl‐4‐chlorobenzenesulfonimidoyl fluoride (SulfoxFluor) is a novel deoxyfluorination reagent that possesses all of the aforementioned merits.