A redox neutral radical-relay cobalt-catalyzed intramolecular C–H fluorination of N-fluoroamides featuring the in situ formed cobalt fluorides as the latent radical fluorinating agents is reported. Moreover, the reactivity of such a cobalt catalysis could be diverted from C–H fluorination to amination by engineering substrates’ conformational flexibility. Preliminary mechanistic studies (UV–vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry studies and DFT calculations, etc.) support the reaction proceeding a redox neutral radical-relay mechanism.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.0c01072