Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.138, No.8, 2536-2539, 2016
Direct Difluoromethylation of Aryl Halides via Base Metal Catalysis at Room Temperature
A stable and isolable difluoromethyl zinc reagent has been prepared through the reaction of ICF2H with diethyl zinc and DMPU. This new zinc reagent is a free-flowing solid and can be used in combination with a nickel catalyst to difluoromethylate aryl iodides, bromides, and triflates at room temperature. Such mild conditions for the catalytic difluoromethylation of these substrates are unprecedented.