New Electrophilic Difluoromethylating Reagent

A new electrophilic difluoromethylating reagent has been developed. The S-(difluoromethyl)diarylsulfonium tetrafluoroborate has been shown to be effective for the introduction of an electrophilic difluoromethyl group into the following nucleophiles: sulfonic acids, tertiary amines, imidazole derivatives, and phosphines. The reagent failed to transfer the difluoromethyl group to phenols, carbon nucleophiles, and primary and secondary amines.