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Azetidines, being four‐membered N‐heterocycles, possess significant potential in contemporary medicinal chemistry owing to their favorable pharmacokinetic properties. Regrettably, the incorporation of functionalized azetidines into pharmaceutical lead structures has been impeded by the absence of efficient synthetic methods for their synthesis. In this study, a Rh‐catalyzed one‐carbon ring expansion of aziridines with vinyl‐N‐triftosylhydrazones is presented, which facilitates the synthesis of high value‐added 2‐alkenyl azetidine products. This research represents the first example of ring expansion of aziridines enabled by vinyl carbenes. Additionally, a one‐pot two‐step protocol, initiated from cinnamaldehyde, was successfully achieved, offering a step‐economical and facile approach for the synthesis of these compounds. The pivotal aspect of this successful transformation lies in the in situ formation of an alkenyl aziridinium ylide intermediate. Experimental investigations, coupled with computational studies, suggest that a diradical pathway is involved in the reaction mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skeletal ring expansion of heteroarenes through carbene insertion is gaining popularity in synthetic chemistry. Efficient strategies for heterocyclic ring expansion to access heterocycles containing a fluoroalkyl quaternary carbon center through fluoroalkyl carbene insertion are highly desirable because of their broad applications in medicinal chemistry. Herein, we report a general strategy for the dearomative one‐carbon insertion of azoles using fluoroalkyl N‐triftosylhydrazones as fluoroalkyl carbene precursors, resulting in ring‐expanded heterocycles in excellent yields with good functional‐group compatibility. The broad generality of this methodology in the late‐stage diversification of pharmaceutically interesting bioactive molecules and versatile transformations of the products has been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of allylic quaternary sp3‐carbon centers has long been a formidable challenge in transition‐metal‐catalyzed alkyl‐allyl coupling reactions due to the severe steric hindrance. Herein, we report an effective carbene strategy that employs well‐defined vinyl‐N‐triftosylhydrazones as a versatile allylating reagent to enable direct assembly of these medicinally desirable structural elements from low‐cost alkane feedstocks. The reaction exhibited excellent site selectivity for tertiary C−H bonds, broad scope (>60 examples and >20 : 1:0 r. r.) and good efficiency, even on a gram‐scale, making it a convenient alternative to the well‐known Trost–Tsuji allylation reaction for the formation of alkyl–allyl bonds. Combined experimental and computational studies were employed to unravel the mechanism and origin of site‐ and chemoselectivity of the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrodefluorination is one of the most promising chemical strategies to degrade perfluorochemicals into partially fluorinated compounds. However, controlled progressive hydrodefluorination remains a significant challenge, owing to the decrease in the strength of C−F bonds along with the defluorination. Here we describe a carbene strategy for the sequential (deutero)hydrodefluorination of perfluoroalkyl ketones under rhodium catalysis, allowing for the controllable preparation of difluoroalkyl‐ and monofluoroalkyl ketones from aryl‐ and even alkyl‐substituted perfluoro‐alkyl ketones in high yield with excellent functional group tolerance. The reaction mechanism and the origin of the intriguing chemoselectivity of the reaction were rationalized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]