Palladium‐Catalyzed Difluoroalkylation of Aryl Boronic Acids: A New Method for the Synthesis of Aryldifluoromethylated Phosphonates and Carboxylic Acid Derivatives

The palladium-catalyzed difluoroalkylation of aryl boronic acids with bromodifluoromethylphosphonate, bromodifluoroacetate, and further derivatives has been developed. This method provides a facile and useful access to a series of functionalized difluoromethylated arenes (ArCF2 PO(OEt)2 , ArCF2 CO2 Et, and ArCF2 CONR(1) R(2) ) that have important applications in drug discovery and development. Preliminary mechanistic studies reveal that a single electron transfer (SET) pathway may be involved in the catalytic cycle.