Selective perfluoro- and polyfluoroarylation of Meldrum's acid

This work describes the facile and mono-selective per- and polyfluoroarylation of Meldrum's acid to generate a versatile synthon for highly fluorinated α-phenyl acetic acid derivatives, which provide straightforward access to fluorinated building blocks. The reaction takes place quickly, and most products were isolated without the need for chromatography. Importantly, this method provides an alternative strategy to access α-arylated Meldrum's acids, which avoids the need for aryl-Pb(IV) salts or diaryliodonium salts. Furthermore, we demonstrate the synthetic versatility and utility of the Meldrum's acid products by subjecting our products to several derivatizations of the Meldrum's acid products as well as photocatalytic hydrodefluorination.