Diazaphospholene-Catalyzed Hydrodefluorination of Polyfluoroarenes with Phenylsilane via Concerted Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution.

The metal-free catalytic C-F bond activation of polyfluoroarenes was achieved with diazaphospholene as the catalyst and phenylsilane as the terminal reductant. Density functional theory calculations suggested a concerted nucleophilic aromatic substitution mechanism.