Copper-catalyzed arylation and alkenylation of polyfluoroarene C-H bonds

An efficient, copper-catalyzed method for the arylation, alkenylation, and benzylation of polyfluoroarenes has been developed. Arenes containing two or more fluorine substituents on the aromatic ring can be efficiently functionalized. The best results are obtained by using a combination of copper iodide catalyst, phenanthroline ligand, aryl bromide or aryl iodide coupling partner, and DMF or DMF/xylene mixed solvent.