Strongly electron-withdrawing para-CF₃ thiol (pKₐ ≈ 5.6) exhibiting high thermal stability and metabolic robustness. It is a key building block for:
Anti-cancer Ras-inhibitors – base-catalysed alkylation with farnesyl bromide gives farnesyl thiosalicylic acid (FTS) and analogues ;
Agro-chemicals – Cu-coupling affords 4-CF₃-aryl sulfide intermediates for rice-blast fungicides and herbicides;
OLED & electronic materials – precursor to iridium(III) complexes emitting yellow-green light (λem 545 nm) with high quantum yield ; also used as a ligand in Cu-catalysed room-temperature o-carborane chalcogenations ;
High-performance poly(aryl sulfide) resins – chain-transfer agent in RAFT polymerisation, yielding high-refractive-index optical materials (nD ≈ 1.68) for 5G lens substrates;
SERS-active SAMs on gold, where the CF₃ tail increases surface hydrophobicity and enhances mercury-ion detection sensitivity;
Benzothiazole UV-absorbers – cyclisation with aldehydes gives 2-substituted-6-CF₃-benzothiazoles with λmax 355 nm.
Store under nitrogen at 2–8 °C, away from light and oxidants.
