Efficient asymmetric synthesis of aryl difluoromethyl sulfoxides and their use to access enantiopure α-difluoromethyl alcohols

Synthesis of gem-Difluorinated Keto-Sulfoxides from Sulfoxonium Ylides

Organic molecules containing fluorine and sulfur atoms represent a large percentage of approved pharmaceuticals. Those with combination of both S and F atoms in their structure such as Xtandi, approved in 2012 for prostate cancer, indicates the importance of synthetic methods that accommodates both atoms in an organic moiety. In this study, a novel aspect of sulfoxonium ylide reactivity was explored, unveiling a streamlined and mild synthesis method for gem-difluorinated keto-sulfoxides. Our protocol offers a direct and practical approach to prepare these compounds in 14-80 % chemical yields, that were represented by 21 examples. NMR studies and Hammett correlations gave strong evidence about the mechanism of this transformation.

Direct Deprotonative Functionalization of α,α-Difluoromethyl Ketones using a Catalytic Organosuperbase

The deprotonative functionalization of α,α-difluoromethyl ketones is described herein. Using a catalytic organosuperbase and a silane additive, the corresponding difluoroenolate could be generated and trapped with aldehydes to deliver various α,α-difluoro-β-hydroxy ketones in high yields. This new strategy tolerates numerous functional groups and represents the access to the difluoroenolate by direct deprotonation of the difluoromethyl unit. The diastereoselective version of the reaction was also investigated with d.r. up to 93 : 7. Several transformations were performed to demonstrate the synthetic potential of these α,α-difluoro-β-hydroxy ketones. In addition, this method has been extended to the use of other electrophiles such as imines and chalcogen derivatives, and a difluoromethyl sulfoxide as nucleophile, thus leading to a diversity of difluoromethylene compounds.

Chemoenzymatic Asymmetric Synthesis of Pyridine-Based α-Fluorinated Secondary Alcohols

Fluoro‐substituted and heteroaromatic compounds are valuable intermediates for a variety of applications in pharma‐ and agrochemistry and synthetic chemistry. This study investigates the chemoenzymatic preparation of chiral alcohols bearing a heteroaromatic ring with an increasing degree of fluorination in α‐position. Starting from readily available picoline derivatives prochiral α‐halogenated acyl moieties were introduced with excellent selectivity and 64–95 % yield. The formed carbonyl group was subsequently reduced to the corresponding alcohols using the alcohol dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus kefir, yielding an enantiomeric excess of 95–>99 % and up to 98 % yield.

Stereoselective synthetic strategies of stereogenic carbon centers featuring a difluoromethyl group

The scope of this review is to summarize routine asymmetric synthetic methods which enable the effective and selective introduction of difluoromethyl groups into the desired compounds, providing a general introduction to this important research area.

Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of α,α-Difluoromethylated and α-Fluoromethylated Tertiary Alcohols

The catalytic asymmetric synthesis of α,α-difluoromethylated tertiary alcohols is described, using an asymmetric dihydroxylation reaction. This protocol using either the AD-mix-α or AD-mix-β allowed an easy access to these valuable fluorinated chiral building blocks, which have been obtained with excellent yields and er. In addition, the reaction was extended to the α-fluoromethylated analogues.