Reductive dimerization of dithianylium salts and fluorodesulfuration: a new synthetic approach to tetrafluoroethylene substructures

The reductive dimerization of dithianylium ions, followed by oxidative fluorodesulfuration, opens a convenient access to a variety of 1,2-disubstituted tetrafluoroethylene derivatives. A similar method leads to hexafluorodiacetyl, a potential building block for fluorinated heterocycles.