Highly selective electrochemical fluorination of dithioacetal derivatives bearing electron-withdrawing substituents at the position α to the sulfur atom using poly(HF) salts

Anodic fluorination of dithioacetals bearing electron-withdrawing ester, acetyl, amide, and nitrile groups at their α-positions was comparatively studied using various supporting poly(HF) salts like Et3N·nHF (n = 3-5) and Et4NF·nHF (n = 3-5). In the former two cases, the corresponding α-fluorination products or fluorodesulfurization products were obtained selectively depending on supporting poly(HF) salts used. In sharp contrast, in the latter two cases, fluorination product selectivity was strongly affected by the electron-withdrawing ability of α-substituents: A dithioacetal bearing a relatively weak electron-withdrawing amide group provided a fluorodesulfurization product selectively while a dithioacetal having a strongly electron-withdrawing nitrile group gave the α-fluorination product predominantly regardless of the poly(HF) salts used.