Selectively catalytic hydrodefluorination of perfluoroarenes by Co(PMe3)4 with sodium formate as reducing agent and mechanism study

Successful selective hydrodefluorinations of aryl fluorides were carried out in the presence of a cobalt catalyst supported by trimethylphosphine and with sodium formate as a reducing agent in acetonitrile or DMSO. Octafluorotoluene (1), pentafluoropyridine (2), hexafluorobenzene (3), pentafluorobenzene (3a) and perfluorobiphenyl (4) were studied to investigate the scope of this catalytic system. It was found that the fluorinated compounds 1, 2 and 4 with electron-withdrawing groups are more active than 3 and 3a. The catalytic hydrodefluorination mechanism is proposed and discussed with the support of the experimental results of the stoichiometric reactions and the in situ IR and NMR data.