Recent advances in practice and theory of polyfluoroarene hydrodehalogenation

The development of concise and highly selective ways to prepare partially fluorinated arenes from readily available polyfluoro ones, the former being valuable building blocks in fine synthesis and material production but much less accessible, remains a challenging synthetic problem. Results achieved in this area over the last one and a half decade, particularly those relating to reductive hydrodehalogenation/defluorination of perfluoro- and perfluorochloroarenes by zinc, are reviewed in the present article. Mechanistic aspects of this chemistry as associated with structure and reactivity of intermediate polyfluoroarene radical anions are also considered.