A general photocatalytic hydrodefluorination and defluoroalkylation of electronically-variable ArCF3 by changing commercially-available arenethiolates

The selection of electronically-different thiolate-based photosensitizers is employed to achieve a precise and specific C–F bond defluorination of a broad range of trifluoromethylarenes, enabling the synthesis of 88 α,α-difluoromethyl compounds.