The Gouverneur group has pioneered catalysis of this type of late-stage reaction by copper (III) (“three”) or palladium (IV) (“four”) via a Chan-Lam mechanism. The only enzyme that catalyzes this type of reaction was discovered in S. cattleya in 2002 and performs it on SAM. In a copper-free Sandmeyer-like mechanism, anilines undergo this transformation by reacting with nitrous acid and then a weakly coordinating anion. Since DAST often explodes, Sigma-Aldrich now recommends that this reaction can be safely performed in air using a DABCO derivative prefixed (*) “select.” Roughly half of all small-molecule drugs undergo this modification, which turns uracil into a chemotherapeutic and converts deoxyglucose into a PET tracer. For 10 points, name this reaction that adds the most electronegative element to a molecule. ■END■
ANSWER: fluorination [or word forms like fluorinating; accept any answers indicating the addition or substitution of fluorine or fluoride; accept fluoridation; accept 18F labeling; prompt on labeling or radiolabeling or tagging; prompt on halogenation; prompt on substitution]
<S, Chemistry>
= Average correct buzz position