Development and Challenges in the Copper-Catalyzed Trifluoromethylation of Alkenes

The recent trifluoromethylation of unactivated alkenes and related compounds provides a new and straightforward method to mainly form C-sp3-CF3 bonds. However, several mechanisms have been proposed for the system of copper catalysts and electrophilic trifluoromethylating reagents. This paper differentiated the radical mechanism from others experimentally and computationally by investigating the chemoselectivity in the rearrangement of unsymmetrical ,-diaryl allylic alcohols. Moreover, it outlines some future directions in this field.