Copper-Mediated Functionalization of Aryl Trifluoroborates

This paper describes the Cu(OTf)₂-mediated coupling of aryl and heteroaryl trifluoroborates with tetrabutylammonium or alkali metal salts to form C-O, C-N, and C-halogen bonds. The reactions proceed under mild conditions (often room temperature over 16 hours) with carboxylate, halide, and azide salts, all nucleophiles that have been underrepresented in the copper cross-coupling literature. Preliminary results show that copper salts bearing weakly coordinating X-type ligands are essential for enabling these transformations to proceed under mild conditions.