06/2016

The fluorination of unactivated C(sp3)−H bonds remains a desirable and challenging transformation for pharmaceutical, agricultural, and materials scientists. Previous methods for this transformation have used bench-stable fluorine atom sources; however, many still rely on the use of UV-active photocatalysts for the requisite high-energy hydrogen atom abstraction event.

Uranyl nitrate hexahydrate is described as a convenient, earth-abundant, hydrogen atom abstraction catalyst that can mediate fluorinations of certain alkanes upon activation with visible light.