Fluoroalkylcopper(I) complexes generated by the carbocupration of tetrafluoroethylene: construction of a tetrafluoroethylene-bridging structure.

We report a copper-mediated synthesis of a variety of 1,2-difunctionalized-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylene derivatives via the carbocupration of tetrafluoroethylene. The key synthetic intermediates, 2-aryl-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylcopper complexes, can be easily prepared, stored, and used as fluoroalkylation reagents. The molecular structure was unambiguously determined by X-ray crystallography and NMR analysis. We applied this method to the short-step synthesis of a liquid-crystalline compound bearing a tetrafluoroethylene-bridging structure.