Selective hydrodechlorination of fluorinated arylamines

Chlorine-containing polyfluorinated anilines and meta-phenylenediamines undergo selective hydrodechlorination easily upon reduction by zinc in aqueous ammonia. A new approach is thus provided to synthetically valuable, partially fluorinated arylamines based on utilizing polyfluorochloroarenes, which are available as intermediates of perfluoroarene production from perchloroarenes. When chlorine atoms are present in positions both ortho and para to the amino group, para chlorine is initially eliminated. Based on this reaction, a one-pot synthesis of partially fluorinated 4-aminopyridines from 3,5-dichlorotrifluoro- and 3-chlorotetrafluoropyridine has been realized.