Tandem Radical Fluoroalkylation–Cyclization: Synthesis of Tetrafluoro Imidazopyridines

A copper-catalyzed fluoroalkylation–cyclization sequence of alkenes and alkynes enables the synthesis of fluorinated tetra- and dihydro­imidazo­pyridines in moderate to excellent yields within 1 h at 70 °C. This reaction, which is carried out using copper­(I) acetate as the catalyst, makes use of a new class of functionalized tetrafluoroethyl reagents based on a hypervalent iodine scaffold.