Au@ZnO Core–Shell: Scalable Photocatalytic Trifluoromethylation Using CF3CO2Na as an Inexpensive Reagent under Visible Light Irradiation

Trifluoromethylation is of significant importance for the synthesis of many small molecules vital for medicinal and agrochemical research. The importance of the CF3 group as well as the related synthetic challenges is so evident that many reagents have been reported for the synthesis of trifluoromethylated compounds, but these typical reagents are expensive and the methods for preparing them are difficult. Here, we report a new scalable and operationally simple trifluoromethylation reaction using sodium trifluoroacetate as a reagent and Au-modified ZnO as a photocatalyst under visible light irradiation. The reaction proceeds via trifluoromethylation of a broad range of aryl halides, arylboronic acids, and arene and heteroarene substrates. Some pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds have been trifluoromethylated directly to demonstrate the applicability of the method.