Oxidant- and Base-Free, Copper-Catalyzed Difluoromethylation of Haloalkynes

Org Lett. 2023 Nov 17;25(45):8127-8132. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c03198. Epub 2023 Nov 3.

Abstract

We report herein a highly efficient copper-catalyzed protocol for the transformation of haloalkynes to the corresponding difluoromethylated alkynes. This scalable protocol exhibits a broad substrate scope and excellent functional group tolerance, enabling the late-stage difluoromethylation of bioactive molecules. Additionally, the strategy of utilizing the difluoromethylalkynes in gram-scale reactions and multiple transformations has proven to be highly valuable in synthetic chemistry.