Straightforward access to N-trifluoromethyl amides, carbamates, thiocarbamates and ureas

Amides and related carbonyl derivatives are of central importance across the physical and life sciences1,2. As a key biological building block, the stability and conformation of amides affect the structures of peptides and proteins as well as their biological function. In addition, amide-bond formation is one of the most frequently used chemical transformations3,4. Given their ubiquity, a technology that is capable of modifying the fundamental properties of amides without compromising on stability may have considerable potential in pharmaceutical, agrochemical and materials science. In order to influence the physical properties of organic molecules—such as solubility, lipophilicity, conformation, pKa and (metabolic) stability—fluorination approaches have been widely adopted5–7. Similarly, site-specific modification with isosteres and peptidomimetics8, or in particular by N-methylation9, has been used to improve the stability, physical properties, bioactivities and cellular permeabilities of compounds. However, the N-trifluoromethyl carbonyl motif—which combines both N-methylation and fluorination approaches—has not yet been explored, owing to a lack of efficient methodology to synthesize it. Here we report a straightforward method to access N-trifluoromethyl analogues of amides and related carbonyl compounds. The strategy relies on the operationally simple preparation of bench-stable carbamoyl fluoride building blocks, which can be readily diversified to the corresponding N–CF3 amides, carbamates, thiocarbamates and ureas. This method tolerates rich functionality and stereochemistry, and we present numerous examples of highly functionalized compounds—including analogues of widely used drugs, antibiotics, hormones and polymer units.