Fluorine Conformational Effects in Organocatalysis: An Emerging Strategy for Molecular Design

Abstract

Molecular design strategies that profit from the intrinsic stereoelectronic and electrostatic effects of fluorinated organic molecules have mainly been restricted to bio‐organic chemistry. Indeed, many fluorine conformational effects remain academic curiosities with no immediate application. However, the renaissance of organocatalysis offers the possibility to exploit many of these well‐described phenomena for molecular preorganization. In this minireview, we highlight examples of catalyst refinement by introduction of an aliphatic CF bond which functions as a chemically inert steering group for conformational control.