Organofluorine compounds have received remarkable
interest in recent years due to their wide-ranging biological
effects. The development of general synthetic routes to such compounds
and the use of new fluorinated compounds as building
blocks are of great importance. Of particular interest is the selective
incorporation of the gem-difluoromethylene group ‘CF2’ into
organic molecules. The report on the synthesis of PhSCF2SiMe3
was published in 2003 by Prakash et al., and the reagent has
become one of the most versatile and efficient nucleophilic
(phenylthio)difluoromethylating reagents.
When excess potassium t-butoxide
was used as a promoter, PhSCF2SiMe3 reacted with diphenyl
disulfide to give the corresponding dithioacetal in 85%
yield (eq 8).
![[[difluoro(triMethylsilyl)Methyl]thio]-Benzene](https://www.chemicalbook.com/CAS/GIF/536975-49-2.gif)