Synthesis of gem-difluoromethylenated bicyclo[m.n.0]alkan-1-ols and their ring-expansion to gem-difluoromethylenated macrocyclic lactones.

Fluoride-catalyzed stereoselective nucleophilic addition of PhSCF(2)SiMe(3) (1) to α-carboethoxycycloalkanones 2 followed by intramolecular radical cyclization of the resulting cis-3 adduct afforded the corresponding gem-difluoromethylenated bicyclic compounds 4, which underwent ring-expansion followed by the Baeyer-Villiger-type oxidation of the resulting macrocyclic ketone intermediates to give gem-difluoromethylenated macrocyclic lactones 5.