AgF-mediated fluorinative homocoupling of gem-difluoroalkenes.

A novel silver(I)-fluoride-mediated homocoupling reaction of β,β-difluorostyrene derivatives is described. The transformation is initiated via nucleophilic addition of silver(I) fluoride to β,β-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 (α-trifluoromethyl)benzylsilver species.