Photoinduced Defluorinative Alkylation of Trifluoromethyl Alkenes with Carbonyl Derivatives by C-C Bond Scission

The development of novel radical precursors for the preparation of structurally diverse gem-difluoroalkenes is still in great demand, especially those enabled by metal-free catalysis. In this context, a metal-free photoinduced method for the synthesis of gem-difluoroalkenes was established, in which various carbonyl derivatives were successfully used as alkyl radical precursors via C-C bond cleavage to react with available alpha-trifluoromethylstyrenes. In particular, the successful gram-scale synthesis and late-stage modification for biologically active molecules highlights their potential value in drug discovery. A practical strategy for the photoinduced defluorinative alkylation of alpha-trifluoromethyl styrenes with carbonyl derivatives via C-C bond cleavage was disclosed.