Recent Advances in Visible Light-Mediated Radical Fluoro-alkylation, -alkoxylation, -alkylthiolation, -alkylselenolation, and -alkylamination.

In the last few years, many reagents and protocols have been developed to allow for the efficient fluorofunctionalization of a diverse set of scaffolds ranging from alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, and (hetero)arenes. The concomitant rise of organofluorine chemistry and visible light-mediated synthesis have synergistically expanded the fields and have mutually benefitted from developments in both fields. In this context, visible light driven formations of radicals containing fluorine have been a major focus for the discovery of new bioactive compounds.

Aqueous Base Promoted -Difluoromethylation of Carboxylic Acids with TMSCFBr: Bench-Top Access to Difluoromethyl Esters.

A method for the -difluoromethylation of carboxylic acids using commercially available TMSCFBr is disclosed. The devised benchtop reaction system is air-stable and offers mild reaction conditions while using readily available reagents and solvents. The method is applicable to both aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids while demonstrating compatibility with a range of commonly encountered functional groups.