Enantioselective Formation of Stereogenic Carbon–Fluorine Centers by a Simple Catalytic Method

An easy protocol has been developed for the formation of stereogenic carbon–fluorine centers by the organocatalytic asymmetric α-fluorination of aldehydes 1. The 2-fluoroaldehydes 4 are formed with 2 as the fluorinating agent and only 1 mol % of a sterically demanding silylated prolinol 3 as catalyst. The 2-fluoroaldehydes are subsequently reduced to the corresponding alcohols 5 without loss of enantiomeric excess.