We present a new method for the 2,2-difluoroethylation of sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen pronucleophiles via a hypervalent iodine strategy in Angewandte Chemie today. We were able to generate (2,2-difluoroethyl)(aryl)iodonium triflate in situ and apply it to the electrophilic 2,2-difluoroethylation of heteroatom nucleophiles, including the drugs Captopril, Normorphine and Mefloquine. Competing alpha– and beta-elimination reactions are supressed by expedient choice of stabilising co-ligands and solvent. Congratulations to all the authors, Suman, Charlotte McI, Andrew, Charlotte S, and Stephen!

For a link to the paper in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., click here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/anie.202410954

A ChemRxiv preprint of this work is available here: https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6667f4a4e7ccf7753a7ce502