Abstract:
The objective of this study was to generate the 1,1-difluoro-1-phenylsulfanylmethyl anion (2) via bromine-magnesium exchange reaction of (α-bromo-α,α difluoromethyl sulfonyl) benzene (1) with Grignard reagents. The results revealed that the anion intermediate 2 did not stabilized at 78 oC and changed into 1,1-dialkyl-1-phenylsulfanyl methyl anion (3) rapidly rather than the anion 2. The anion 3 could be trapped with protons, aromatic aldehydes or ethyl cyanoformate to provide trialkyl methyl sulfide 4 in 15-83% yields. The transmetallation reaction of the anion 3 with Cu(I) was further observed to react with alkyl halides or benzoyl cyanide to obtain trialkyl methyl sulfide 5 in 30-78% yields.