Sulfur Assisted Tandem Electrophilic Fluorinative Deacylation: Synthesis of α-Fluoro β-Ketosulfides.

A successful synthesis of α-fluoro-β-ketosulfides using an electrophilic fluorination method has been reported for the first time. The reaction proceeds via an electrophilic fluorination of α-sulfenyl-β-diketones followed by an unexpected tandem deacylation. The resulting products, α-fluoro-β-ketosulfides, are easily oxidized to the corresponding α-fluoro-β-ketosulfones, which can be used for further useful olefination reactions.