Our Research

Fluorine is an incredibly powerful and versatile element.  The incorporation of fluorine into a potential drug target can influence that molecule's acidity, conformation, lipophilicity and metabolic stability.   However, installing fluorine atoms into specific positions remains a significant challenge.

Our fluorination work aims at creating improved reagents for deoxyfluorination methodologies.  Key considerations for these new reagents were: 1) efficiency, 2) ease of use and 3) tunability. To this end, we have created novel sulfone iminium fluorides (SIFs) which convert alcohols to alkyl fluorides in less than 60 seconds, achieving the fastest fluorination rates to date.  We have also expanded the use of these SIFs to synthesize valuable acyl fluorides from carboxylic acids as well as new connectors in Sulfur Fluoride Exchange (SuFEx) chemistry.

Current efforts on this project are centered on expanding the usage of these highly reactive SIF reagents.