A Review on the Scope of TFDO-Mediated Oxidation in Organic Synthesis--Reactivity and Selectivity

Dioxiranes are three-membered strained ring peroxides that are typical archetype examples of electrophilic entities. A dioxirane-based oxidant named 3-methyl(trifluoromethyl)dioxirane (TFDO) is a fluorinated analogue of the extremely valuable oxidant dimethyldioxirane (DMDO). Owing to the strained threemembered ring and presence of electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group, TFDO is several times more reactive than DMDO and acts as a significant chemical reagent. Moreover, TFDO exhibits high regio-, chemo- and stereo-selectivity even under unusual reaction conditions, i.e. at pH values close to neutrality and at subambient temperatures. The TFDO transfers an oxygen atom to “unactivated” carbon-hydrogen bonds of alkanes as well as to the double bonds of alkenes and also helps in oxidation of compounds containing heteroatoms having a lone pair of electrons, such as sulfides and amines. TFDO-mediated oxidation is considered to be one of the main procedures in the 21st century for the synthesis of oxygen-containing organic molecules. This review throws light on the applications of TFDO in organic syntheses to provide an insight into the future research and gives a comprehensive summary of the selective functionalization of activated and non-activated organic compounds.