α‐Fluorotricarbonyl Derivatives as Versatile Fluorinated Building Blocks: Synthesis of Fluoroacetophenone, Fluoroketo Ester and Fluoropyran‐4‐one Derivatives

Fluorinated acyl‐Meldrum's acid derivatives were synthesized by electrophilic fluorination of appropriate phenacyl Meldrum's acid substrates using Selectfluor. Reactions with water, ethanol, Grignard, and alkynyllithium reagents gave rise to the corresponding fluoro‐acetophenone, –1,3‐keto ester, –1,3‐diketone and ‐pyran‐4‐one products respectively from the same selectively fluorinated scaffold in one‐step procedures.