Recent Advances in the Synthesis of Difluorinated Architectures from Trifluoromethyl Groups

Fluorine‐containing moieties are widely used in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and material fields. Thus, these structures are of immense interest in the fields of organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry. Among various fluorinated groups, the difluoromethyl unit has drawn increasing attention due to its unique pharmaceutical properties. In recent years, several methods for the synthesis of difluoromethylated compounds have been rapidly developed. However, most of these methods treat aromatic compounds with excess difluoromethylating reagents, which often contain organometallic compounds, so these transformations are generally less environmentally friendly and atom‐economical. In this review, we summarize the recent development of new methods for the synthesis of difluoromethyl motifs or difluoroalkenes from trifluoromethylated aromatic compounds or trifluoromethyl alkenes via single C(sp³)−F bond cleavage.