Visible Light‐Induced Aromatic Difluoroalkylation

Abstract Difluoroalkylated aromatics are important structural motifs in pharmaceutical and agrochemical applications. Herein, we report their synthesis by a mild, efficient, and convenient method using visible light photoredox catalysis. A variety of unactivated aromatics were difluoroalkylated with ethyl 2‐bromo‐2,2‐difluoroacetate (BrCF 2 CO 2 Et) in the presence of the triscyclometalated Ir complex fac ‐[Ir(ppy) 3 ] under visible light irradiation at room temperature. It is shown that reaction outcomes containing the CF 2 CO 2 Et moiety can be converted to a variety of other CF 2 ‐containing aromatics, demonstrating the synthetic utility of the present method. magnified image