Oxidative Chloro- and Bromodifluoromethylation of Thiophenols

Herein we reported metal-free oxidative chloro- and bromodifluoromethylation of thiophenols with TMSCF₂X in the presence of oxidant <i>N</i>-chloro(bromo)succinimide and ^<i>n</i>Bu₄NX (X = Cl or Br), respectively, under mild reaction conditions. This protocol provided a practical and efficient method for synthesizing various biologically valuable and synthetically challenging chloro- and bromodifluoromethyl aryl sulfides. Preliminary mechanistic investigation suggested that the transformation proceeded through a difluorocarbene intermediate.