Deuteration of Aromatic and Heteroamomatic Compounds Catalyzed by Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane

Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (1) performs as a deuterating catalyst of aromatic and heteroaromatic derivatives with deuterium oxide. For example, Werner et al. have recently reported that (hetero)aromatic derivatives react with deuterium oxide in the presence of 1 as a catalyst to give the corresponding deuterium labeled aryl products in good yields. This reaction is a heavy metal-free reaction and can regioselectively introduce deuterium to aromatic derivatives under mild condition. It is expected that this new research will experience noted applications in mechanistic studies through the kinetic isotope effect, as well as for the probing of pharmaceutical properties of drugs and medicinal compounds.