Palladium-Catalyzed Regioselective Difluoroalkylation and Carbonylation of Alkynes.

A novel, four-component synthetic strategy to synthesize a series of β-difluoroalkyl unsaturated esters/amides with high regioslectivity is described. This Pd-catalyzed difluoroalkylation and carbonylation reaction can be carried out with simple starting materials. Through this protocol, two new C–C bonds (including one C–CF2 bond) and one C–O(N) bond are constructed simultaneously in a single step. The synthetic utility of this reaction system has been certified by the applicability to a wide scope of alkynes and nucleophiles. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that the difluoroalkyl radical pathway is involved in this reaction.