Fluoroform (CHF3) can be considered as an ideal reagent for difluoromethylation reactions. However, due to the low reactivity of fluoroform, only very few applications have been reported so far. Herein we report a continuous flow difluoromethylation protocol on sp3 carbons employing fluoroform as a reagent. The protocol is applicable for the direct Cα-difluoromethylation of protected α-amino acids, and enables a highly atom efficient synthesis of the active pharmaceutical ingredient eflornithine.
