Polyfluorinated benzoic acids as promising reagents for organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry

Polyfluoroaromatic compounds occupy a special place in organic synthesis due to a wide range of their chemical transformations and unique biological properties. The introduction of the carboxyl function into polyfluoroarenes allows further diversification of the chemistry of these compounds. This review summarizes data on the chemical transformations of polyfluorobenzoic acids, including derivatives of polyfluorosalicylic acids. The reactions of esterification, amidation, reduction, decarboxylation, metal-catalyzed decarboxylative cross-coupling, C–H functionalization, reductive defluorination, nucleophilic aromatic substitution, heterocyclization and complex formation are considered. Reactivity features of polyfluorobenzoates in comparison to their non-fluorinated counterparts are highlighted. The potential for practical applications of polyfluorobenzoic acid derivatives, primarily as biologically active compounds, is presented.
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