The productive merger of iodonium salts and organocatalysis: A non-photolytic approach to the enantioselective α-trifluoromethylation of aldehydes

An enantioselective organocatalytic α-trifluoromethylation of aldehydes has been accomplished using a commercially available, electrophilic trifluoromethyl source. The merging of Lewis acid and organocatalysis provides a new strategy for the enantioselective construction of trifluoromethyl stereogenicity, an important chiral synthon for pharmaceutical, materials, and agrochemical applications. This mild and operationally simple protocol allows rapid access to enantioenriched α-trifluoromethylated aldehydes through a nonphotolytic pathway.