A Fluorinated Ligand Enables Room-Temperature and Regioselective Pd-Catalyzed Fluorination of Aryl Triflates and Bromides

A new biaryl monophosphine ligand (AlPhos, L1) allows for the room-temperature Pd-catalyzed fluorination of a variety of activated (hetero)­aryl triflates. Furthermore, aryl triflates and bromides that are prone to give mixtures of regioisomeric aryl fluorides with Pd-catalysis can now be converted to the desired aryl fluorides with high regioselectivity. Analysis of the solid-state structures of several Pd­(II) complexes, as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations, shed light on the origin of the enhanced reactivity observed with L1.