Singlet ground states fluorocarbenes

IS the most popular, one-step method for m ag fluorinated cyclopropanes and cyclopropenes a-Fluorocarbenes are particularly well behaved, because they all have singlet ground states [/, 2] and therefore usually add stereospecifically to alkenes and do not insert into C-H bonds competitively with addition Moreover, quantitative competition studies of carbene additions to alkenes near room temperature show that a-fluorocarbenes are more selective than other a-halocarbenes, with difluorocarbene being the most selective electrophihc carbene known [3, 4] The relative selectivities, however, can be quite temperature dependent [5, d] The numerous preparations and cycloaddmons of fluorocarbenes have been reviewed thoroughly [7, 8 9,10 ... 

All fluorocarbenes are ground state singlets. For laboratory use there are some precursors which thermally generate difluorocarbene.42 Its identification is usually made by a subsequent chemical insertion reaction. A few industrially important processes proceed via difluorocarbene. The thermal pyrolysis of chlorodifluoromethane (CHF2C1) for the production of tetrafluoroethene and hexafluoropropene gives the intermediate CF2 which dimerizes to the alkene. 

The stereochemistry of reactions between carbenes and alkenes is determined by the states of the carbenes (when generated), whereby singlet carbenes react in a stereospecific one-step concerted process whilst triplet carbenes lead to a mixture of products via a diradical intermediate (Figure 6.58). Consequently, since fluorocarbenes are singlets in the ground state (Table 6.2), cyclopropanation of alkenes is often stereospecific [91] (Figure 6.59) (for more examples, see Sections A and B). 

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