Effective with fluorine

Some pharmaceuticals are only effective because they contain fluorine atoms. Strategic installation of fluorine allows better penetration of cell membranes and slows down metabolic decomposition. Unfortunately, the installation of polyfluorinated functional groups often requires harsh reagents such as fluorine gas, which is quite difficult to handle, thus hindering the development of the full potential of fluorine chemistry. Cody Ross Pitts, Nico Santschi and Antonio Togni have developed a synthetic pathway that works without problematic gas reagents and uses rather mild-reacting solids instead.