Room-Temperature Photochemical Copper-Mediated Fluorination of Aryl Iodides.

This report describes a method for the photochemical Cu-mediated fluorination of aryl iodides with AgF via putative aryl radical (Ar•) intermediates. It involves irradiating an aryl iodide with UVB light (λ max = 313 nm) in the presence of a mixture of Cu I and Cu II salts and AgF. Under these conditions, fluorination proceeds at room temperature for substrates containing diverse substituents, including alkoxy and alkyl groups, ketones, esters, sulfonate esters, sulfonamides, and protected amines. This method has been translated to radiofluorination using a combination of K 18 F, K 3 PO 4 , and AgOTf.