gem-Difluoroolefination of Diazo Compounds with TMSCF₃ or TMSCF₂Br: Transition-Metal-Free Cross-Coupling of Two Carbene Precursors

A new olefination protocol for transition-metal-free cross-coupling of two carbene fragments arising from two different sources, namely, a nonfluorinated carbene fragment resulting from a diazo compound and a difluorocarbene fragment derived from Ruppert-Prakash reagent (TMSCF3) or TMSCF2Br, has been developed. This gem-difluoroolefination proceeds through the direct nucleophilic addition of diazo compounds to difluorocarbene followed by elimination of N2. Compared to previously reported Cu-catalyzed gem-difluoroolefination of diazo compounds with TMSCF3, which possesses a narrow substrate scope due to a demanding requirement on the reactivity of diazo compounds and in-situ-generated CuCF3, this transition-metal-free protocol affords a general and efficient approach to various disubstituted 1,1-difluoroalkenes, including difluoroacrylates, diaryldifluoroolefins, as well as arylalkyldifluoroolefins. In view of the ready availability of diazo compounds and difluorocarbene reagents and versatile transformations of 1,1-difluoroalkenes, this new gem-difluoroolefination method is expected to find wide applications in organic synthesis.