Nucleophilic Fluorination in Ionic Liquid Systems
Summary
Nucleophilic fluorination in ionic liquid systems has emerged as a versatile approach to form carbon–fluorine bonds under mild and environmentally benign conditions. The unique physicochemical properties of ionic liquids—negligible vapour pressure, high ionic strength and tunable polarity—overcome longstanding challenges associated with insoluble alkali metal fluorides. By mediating strong Coulombic interactions and hydrogen‐bond networks, ionic liquids facilitate the dissolution and activation of fluoride sources, enabling efficient SN2 and SNAr pathways. Tailored cation–anion combinations in the liquid medium allow precise control over reactivity and selectivity, offering routes to regioisomers, enantioenriched fluorinated products and radiolabelled tracers. Moreover, the capacity to design task‐specific ionic liquids has led to heterogeneous supports, recyclable reaction media and reduced reliance on volatile organic solvents. Collectively, these advances point to a sustainable platform for pharmaceutical synthesis, agrochemical development and radiochemistry, with implications for process intensification and green manufacturing.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Nucleophilic Fluorination in Ionic Liquid Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in nucleophilic fluorination in ionic liquid systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Ionic liquid: A salt in the liquid state at ambient temperature, composed entirely of ions, offering high ionic strength and negligible vapour pressure.
Nucleophilic fluorination: A reaction in which a fluoride ion acts as the nucleophile, displacing a leaving group to form a new carbon–fluorine bond.
Coulombic interaction: Electrostatic attraction or repulsion between charged species, critical for solubilising and activating ionic reagents in the reaction medium.
Phase‐transfer catalysis: A technique that transports an ionic reactant from one phase into another where the organic substrate resides, enhancing reaction rates.
Hydrogen‐bond donor: A molecule or functional group capable of forming hydrogen bonds with fluoride, thereby modulating its nucleophilicity and solvation.
References
- Ionic Liquids as Organocatalysts for Nucleophilic Fluorination: Concepts and Perspectives. Molecules (2022).
- Harnessing Ionic Interactions and Hydrogen Bonding for Nucleophilic Fluorination. Molecules (2020).
- Poly Caprolactam Supported Hexaethylene Glycolic Imidazolium Ionic Liquid as a Heterogeneous Promoter for Nucleophilic Fluorination. Molecules (2023).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.