Nucleophilic Difluoromethylation of Epoxides with PhSO(NTBS)CF2H by a Preorganization Strategy

Unlike the facile synthesis of β‐monofluoromethyl alcohols by nucleophilic monofluoromethylation of epoxides, the synthesis of β‐difluoromethyl alcohols by nucleophilic difluoromethylation of epoxides still remains a challenge. Herein, studies on tackling this problem with PhSO(NTBS)CF₂H ( 2 ; TBS=tert‐butyldimethylsilyl) are reported. The preorganization of 2 and epoxides with BF₃ ? Et₂O was found to be crucial for the reaction. The reaction shows excellent regioselectivity and has a broad substrate scope. The facile transformation of the ring‐opened products to β‐difluoromethyl, γ‐difluoromethyl, and β‐difluoromethylenyl alcohols demonstrates the synthetic utility of the reaction.