Trifluoromethyl Benzoate: A Versatile Trifluoromethoxylation Reagent.

Trifluoromethyl benzoate (TFBz) is developed as a new shelf-stable trifluoromethoxylation reagent, which can be easily prepared from inexpensive starting materials using KF as the only fluorine source. The synthetic potency of TFBz is demonstrated by trifluoromethoxylation-halogenation of arynes, nucleophilic substitution of alkyl (pseudo)halides, cross-coupling with aryl stannanes, and asymmetric difunctionalization of alkenes. The unprecedented trifluoromethoxylation-halogenation of arynes proceeds smoothly at room temperature with the aid of a crown ether-complexed potassium cation, which significantly stabilizes the trifluoromethoxide anion derived from TFBz.