UC Berkeley

We report the Pd-catalyzed α-arylation of α,α-difluoroketones with aryl and heteroaryl bromides and chlorides catalyzed by an air- and moisture-stable palladacyclic complex containing P(t-Bu)Cy2 as ligand. The combination of this Pd-catalyzed arylation and base-induced cleavage of the acyl-aryl C-C bond within the α-aryl-α,α-difluoroketone constitutes a one-pot, two-step procedure to synthesize difluoromethylarenes from aryl halides. A broad range of electronically varied aryl and heteroaryl bromides and chlorides underwent these two transformations, providing α-aryl-α,α-difluoroketones, difluoromethylarenes, and difluoromethylheteroarenes in high yields.