A convenient methodology for constructing 6,6-difluorospiro[3.3]heptane scaffold - a conformationally restricted isostere of gem-difluorocycloalkanes - is developed. Alarge array of novel 2-mono- and 2,2-bifunctionalized difluorospiro[3.3]heptane building blocks was obtained through the convergent synthesis strategy using a common synthetic precursor - 1,1-bis(bromomethyl)-3,3-difluorocyclobutane. The target compounds and intermediates were prepared by short reaction sequences (6-10 steps) on multigram scale (up to 0.47 kg).
Keywords: building blocks; cyclization; organofluorine compounds; small rings; spiro compounds.