Facile and efficient synthesis of 4-azidotetrafluoroaniline: A new photoaffinity reagent

p-Azidotetrafluoroaniline (1) was synthesized in 65-73% yield by two different methods employing a stable carbamate intermediate. The first method trapped the intermediate isocyanate generated via a modified Curtius rearrangement with 2-methyl-2-propanol or 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethanol to form the stable carbamates 2d and 2e, respectively. Benzoic acid 2c was first converted to its acid chloride with PCl₅. Displacement of the chloride by NaN₃ in acetone/water formed the acyl azide. Thermal rearrangement followed by the addition of the appropriate alcohols provided the carbamates. The acid labile carbamate 2d was deprotected with HCI/AcOH to provide 1, while trifluoroacetic acid was required to deprotect 2e and afford 1. In the second path, 1 was synthesized in five steps from pentafluoronitrobenzene (3a) in 65% overall yield. Compound 3a was converted into 4-azidotetrafluoronitrobenzene (3b) with NaN₃ in 93% yield and was used without further purification to form 1,4-diaminotetrafluorobenzene (3c) by Sn/HCl reduction in 85% yield. The mono-9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (FMOC) derivative 3d was formed from 3c with FMOC-Cl and pyridine in EtOAc in 92% yield. Diazotization of 3d under anhydrous conditions with TFA/NaNO₂ and NaN₃ gave 3e in 87% yield. The aryl azide was formed with concurrent nitration of the 2-position of the fluorenyl system. The protecting group was removed with piperidine to afford 1 in 93% yield. Irradiation of 1 with 254 nm light in cyclohexane gave cyclohexylamine 11, diamine 3c, and azobenzene 12 as the primary products. The formation of C-H insertion product 11 indicates that 1 forms a singlet nitrene upon photolysis. Two heterobifunctional photoaffinity reagents iodoacetamide 9 and dansyl derivative 10 were prepared.