Palladium-catalyzed C-H fluorosilylation of 2-phenylpyridines: synthesis of silafluorene equivalents

Treatment of 2-phenylpyridines with amino(1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)diphenylsilane produced fluorosilylated 2-phenylpyridines in good to excellent yields under palladium catalysis. This reaction is the first example of C-H fluorosilylation. Single-crystal X-ray structure analysis revealed a Lewis acid-base interaction between the silicon and nitrogen atoms, and the obtained fluorosilylated products are silafluorene equivalents. The fluorosilylated products showed stronger fluorescence than the corresponding silafluorene derivative.