Construction and transformations of 2,2-difluoro-2,3-dihydrofurans from enaminones and diflurocarbene

Abstract

A simple and efficient construction of 2-difluoro-2,3-dihydrofurans is reported, which features metal-free and additive-free conditions, high functional group tolerance and readily accessible starting materials. It is worth mentioning that this type of compound could be readily converted into α-amino acids under a reducing atmosphere; moreover, the synthesis of 2-fluorofurans could also be completed through the fluorine elimination in the presence of magnesium powder and TBSCl. This method will open up new avenues for the research and development of amino acid drugs and it is also a novel and undeveloped strategy for the construction of 2-fluorofuran derivatives.