Trifluoroacetic acid: Uses and recent applications in organic synthesis

•Many chemical transformations should be done with the aid of TFA.•TFA has important properties for its use in organic synthesis, such as low boiling point, high dielectric constant and strong acidity.•A number of pharmaceutical intermediates and agrochemicals should be prepared using TFA as a reagent or its derivatives during their synthesis.

Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), discovered at the early 20th century, has been widely used in organic synthesis as a solvent, catalyst and reagent. Many chemical transformations should be done with the aid of TFA, including rearrangements, functional group deprotections, oxidations, reductions, condensations, hydroarylations and trifluoromethylations. This review covers TFA synthetic applications, giving to the organic chemistry research community an opportunity to go in depth on the many diverse uses of this strong acid, water miscible and low boiling point reagent.

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