Metal-Free Trifluoromethylation of Aromatic and Heteroaromatic Aldehydes and Ketones

[Image: see text] The ability to convert simple and common substrates into fluoroalkyl derivatives under mild conditions remains an important goal for medicinal and agricultural chemists. One representative example of a desirable transformation involves the conversion of aromatic and heteroaromatic ketones and aldehydes into aryl and heteroaryl β,β,β-trifluoroethylarenes and -heteroarenes. The traditional approach for this net transformation involves stoichiometric metals and/or multistep reaction sequences that consume excessive time, material, and labor resources while providing low yields of products. To complement these traditional strategies, we report a one-pot metal-free decarboxylative procedure for accessing β,β,β-trifluoroethylarenes and -heteroarenes from readily available ketones and aldehydes. This method features several benefits, including ease of operation, readily available reagents, mild reaction conditions, high functional-group compatibility, and scalability.