N-Difluoromethylthiophthalimide: A Shelf-Stable, Electrophilic Reagent for Difluoromethylthiolation

A new, electrophilic difluoromethylthiolating reagent N-difluoromethylthiophthalimide 3 was developed. Reagent 3 can be readily synthesized in four steps from easily available starting materials phthalimide and TMSCF2H. N-difluoromethylthiophthalimide 3 is a powerful electrophilic difluoromethylthiolating reagent that allows the difluoromethylthiolation of a wide range of nucleophiles including aryl/vinyl boronic acids, alkynes, amines, thiols, beta-ketoesters, and oxindoles and electron-rich heteroarenes such as indole, pyrrole, 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine, aminothiazole, isoxazole, and pyrazole under mild conditions.