Access to gem-Difluoroalkenes via Organic Photoredox-Catalyzed gem-Difluoroallylation of Alkyl Iodides

J Org Chem. 2022 Jan 21;87(2):1574-1584. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.1c02659. Epub 2021 Dec 29.

Abstract

An organic photoredox-catalyzed gem-difluoroallylation of α-trifluoromethyl alkenes with alkyl iodides via C-F bond cleavage for the synthesis of gem-difluoroalkene derivatives is reported. This transition-metal-free transformation utilized a readily available organic dye 4CzIPN as the sole photocatalyst and employed a common chemical N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine as the radical activator of alkyl iodides via halogen-atom transfer. In addition, a variety of iodides, including primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl iodides, were tolerated and provided good to high yields.