3-Chloro-2-fluorobenzoic acid (CAS number 161957-55-7) is derived from benzoic acid, featuring a fluoride and a chloride at 2- and 3-positions. A fluorine probe molecule is prepared from 3-chloro-2-fluorobenzoic acid and hydroxysuccinimide catalyzed by N,N’-dicyclohexyl carbodiimide (DCC). The fluorine probe facilitates the identification and quantification of amino acids in metabolomics study using 19F NMR. The carboxylic acid moiety within 3-chloro-2-fluorobenzoic acid can also coordinate to metal centers, enabling the formation of ligands for metal-organic frameworks.
3-Chloro-2-fluorobenzoic acid is also used as a building block for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), notably as Aurora A inhibitors. 3-Chloro-2-fluorobenzoic acid is attached to the molecular scaffold through peptide coupling chemistry with hexafluorophosphate azabenzotriazole tetramethyl uronium (HATU). The resulting products show half-maximal inhibitory concentration upto 3.5 ± 0.29 nM.