A study towards the undirected fluorination and chlorination of cubane 1,4-diester

A study towards the undirected C–H fluorination and chlorination of cubane 1,4-diester is described using a user-friendly reagent such as Selectfluor and 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin under photoinduction. While the fluorocubane 1,4-diester is formed in low yield (8% yield) due to loss of material, the chlorocubane 1,4-diester was on the other hand prepared in 59% yield without the need for any photocatalyst. Moreover, a proof-of-concept of the chlorination of this strained scaffold was demonstrated using flow technology.