Synthesis and use of halodifluoromethyl heterocycles

In view of the expanding interest in fluorinated heterocycles, the installation of a fluoroalkyl group in a molecule represents a challenging task in organic synthesis. Nowadays, convenient strategies for introducing CF2X groups are still on demand because halodifluoromethylated compounds are useful synthetic intermediates in medicinal and agrochemistry, and in electronic materials. This review collects different strategies for incorporating selectively the halodifluoromethyl moiety either into simple aromatic and aliphatic heterocycles or into structural analogs of biologically active heterocyclic compounds. Moreover, given the importance of organofluorine compounds in organic and medicinal chemistry, the exchange reaction of halogen (Br, Cl) on the halodifluorinated group with different nucleophiles has proved to be useful for the formation of trifluorinated and gem difluorinated linked compounds.