Selective Electrochemical Defluorinative Hydroxymethylation toward Difluoro-Substituted Alcohol Building Blocks
Abstract
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.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Fluorine in Organic Chemistry
Radical Photochemical Reactions
Inorganic Fluorides and Related Compounds
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Organic Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 23
- Pages
- 7097–7103
- Publication date
- 2 June 2026
- Language
- EN