Diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis of compounds with a trifluoromethyl- and fluoro-substituted carbon centre

Molecules that contain one or more fluorine atoms are crucial to drug discovery. There are protocols available for the selective synthesis of different organofluorine compounds, including those with a fluoro-substituted or a trifluoromethyl-substituted stereogenic carbon centre. However, approaches for synthesizing compounds with a trifluoromethyl- and fluoro-substituent stereogenic carbon centre are far less common. This potentially impactful set of molecules thus remains severely underdeveloped. Here we introduce a catalytic regio-, diastereo- and enantioselective strategy for the preparation of homoallylic alcohols bearing a stereogenic carbon centre bound to a trifluoromethyl group and a fluorine atom. The process, which involves a polyfluoroallyl boronate and is catalysed by an in situ-formed organozinc complex, can be used for diastereodivergent preparation of tetrafluoro-monosaccharides, including ribose core analogues of the antiviral drug sofosbuvir (Sovaldi). Unexpected reactivity/selectivity profiles, probably originating from the trifluoromethyl- and fluoro-substituted carbon site, are discovered, foreshadowing other unique chemistries that remain unknown.