AgF-Mediated Fluorinative Homocoupling of gem-Difluoroalkenes

A novel silver(I)-fluoride-mediated homocoupling reaction of beta,beta-difluorostyrene derivatives is described. The transformation is initiated via nucleophilic addition of silver(I) fluoride to beta,beta-difluorostyrenes, which is followed by dimerization of the corresponding benzylsilver intermediates. The reaction shows good substrate scope, functional group tolerance, and represents the first report on the reactivity of (alpha-trifluoromethyl)benzylsilver species.