Copper(II) triflate-bis(oxazoline)-catalysed enantioselective electrophilic fluorination of β-ketoesters

A new efficient catalytic enantioselective electrophilic fluorination of cyclic and acyclic beta-ketoesters is developed. As low as 1 mol % of chiral bis(oxazoline)-copper triflate complexes catalyses the fluorination by means of N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide. The use of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) is crucial for achieving high enantio selectivity. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.