2026/06/02 by Andrey Shatskiy, Márk Holczer, Johannes Winter +3 · 1 voice
Chemistry · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics · #Fluorine in Organic Chemistry #Inorganic Fluorides and Related Compounds #Radical Photochemical Reactions
paper · doi:10.1021/acs.orglett.6c01339
openalex publication_date 2026/06/02 · openalex created_date 2026/06/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Difluoromethylated compounds are of high importance for pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries; however, access to these structures remains limited due to the scarcity of reliable synthetic methods for their formation. This work presents a straightforward electrochemical synthesis of difluoromethyl-substituted alcohol building blocks via the selective monodefluorination of trifluoromethyl arenes with concomitant hydroxymethylation. The transformation proceeds with high chemoselectivity for a range of trifluoromethyl arene substrates under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction relies on reductive radical-polar crossover to furnish a key carbanion intermediate.