Visible-Light Photoredox Difluoromethylation of Phenols and Thiophenols with Commercially Available Difluorobromoacetic Acid

A simple and efficient visible-light photoredox one-pot method for difluoromethylation of phenols and thiophenols has been developed. The protocol uses commercially available, inexpensive, and easy handling difluorobromoacetic acid as the difluoromethylating agent, and the diverse O- and S-difluoromethylated products were prepared in good yields with tolerance of many functional groups.