An Easy Way to Trifluoromethanesulfanyls

Significance

Fluorinated molecules attract much attention due to their potential applications in many fields of chemistry (e.g. pharmaceutical, agrochemical, or materials chemistry). One interesting moiety in this context is the trifluoro­methanesulfanyl (CF₃S) group. The authors present a direct way to add this group to alkenes and alkynes using trifluoromethanesulfanylamides (1 or 7) which avoid the use of the previously reported very toxic reagent CF₃SCl. In most cases, Lewis acid activation with BF₃ OEt₂ results in the best yields.