A new approach to access difluoroalkylated diarylmethanes via visible-light photocatalytic cross-coupling reactions

Abstract

Difluoroalkylated diarylmethanes with biological and pharmacological potentials were synthesized from para-quinone methides (p-QMs) and difluoroalkylating reagents via a visible light photocatalysis strategy. Mechanism studies showed that the excited photocatalyst, *fac-Ir(ppy)₃, was primarily quenched by p-QMs and the generated diarylmethane radical intermediates then underwent a radical–radical cross-coupling reaction with difluoroalkyl radicals. This reaction features mild conditions, high efficiency and wide functional group compatibility.