Photoinduced defluorinative alkylation of trifluoromethyl alkenes with carbonyl derivatives by C–C bond scission

Abstract

The development of novel radical precursors for the preparation of structurally diverse gem-difluoroalkenes is still in great demand, especially those enabled by metal-free catalysis. In this context, a metal-free photoinduced method for the synthesis of gem-difluoroalkenes was established, in which various carbonyl derivatives were successfully used as alkyl radical precursors via C–C bond cleavage to react with available α-trifluoromethylstyrenes. In particular, the successful gram-scale synthesis and late-stage modification for biologically active molecules highlights their potential value in drug discovery.