Good partnership between sulfur and fluorine: Sulfur-based fluorination and fluoroalkylation reagents for organic synthesis

Organofluorine compounds and materials have found wide applications. Sulfur and fluorine truly form a good partnership in modulating many different types of fluorination and fluoroalkylation reactions through various sulfur/fluorine-containing inorganic and organic compounds/reagents. The historical development of deoxygenative fluorination reagents along the path from SF4, DAST, Deoxo-Fluor to XtalFluors and Fluolead, clearly demonstrates the excellent modulating ability of sulfur-containing groups for efficient and safe fluorination reagents. On the other hand, fluorinated organosulfur compounds, such as sulfones, sulfoximines, sulfinate salts, sulfoxides, sulfilimines, sulfides, among others, often exhibit unique chemical reactivities that are different from their nonfluorinated counterparts. Sulfur-based fluorination and fluoroalkylation reagents will continue to find wide applications in synthesizing new fluorine-containing pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced materials.