A New Reagent for Direct Difluoromethylation

Molecular scaffolds containing alkylfluorine substituents
are desired
in many areas of chemical research from materials to pharmaceuticals.
Herein, we report the invention of a new reagent (Zn­(SO2CF2H)2, DFMS) for the innate difluoromethylation
of organic substrates via a radical process. This mild, operationally
simple, chemoselective, and scalable difluoromethylation method is
compatible with a range of nitrogen-containing heteroarene substrates
of varying complexity as well as select classes of conjugated π-systems
and thiols. Regiochemical comparisons suggest that the CF2H radical generated from the new reagent possesses nucleophilic character.