Pentafluoroethyl Sulfoximine Reagent for the Photocatalytic Pentafluoroethylation–Difunctionalization of Styrene Derivatives

We herein describe the synthesis of a pentafluoroethyl sulfoximine and its application in the pentafluoroethylation-difunctionalization of styrene derivatives. This sulfoximine reagent acts as a source of pentafluoroethyl radical to react with styrenes under mild photocatalytic conditions. By using simple nucleophiles, the pentafluoroethyl group can be introduced to styrenes with concomitant formation of C-O/C-N/C-S/C-C bonds, which significantly broadens the difunctionalization scope involving pentafluoroethylation compared to previous copper-based methods.