Fluoroalkylcopper(I) Complexes Generated by the Carbocupration of Tetrafluoroethylene: Construction of a Tetrafluoroethylene-Bridging Structure

We report a copper-mediated
synthesis of a variety of 1,2-difunctionalized-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylene
derivatives via the carbocupration of tetrafluoroethylene. The key
synthetic intermediates, 2-aryl-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylcopper complexes,
can be easily prepared, stored, and used as fluoroalkylation reagents.
The molecular structure was unambiguously determined by X-ray crystallography
and NMR analysis. We applied this method to the short-step synthesis
of a liquid-crystalline compound bearing a tetrafluoroethylene-bridging
structure.