Stereospecific preparation of (1E,3E,5E)-3.4-difluoro-1,6-diphenylhexatriene and (2E,4E,6E)-diethyl-4,5-difluoroocta-2,4,6-trienedioate

Palladium(0) catalyzed coupling of β-bromostyrene (E/Z = 89/11) with (E)-(1,2-difluoro-1,2-ethenediyl)bis[tributylstannane], 1, in DMF at room temperature stereospecifically gave only (1E,3E,5E)-3,4-difluoro-1,6-diphenylhexatriene. Similarly, palladium(0) catalyzed coupling of (E)-ethyl 3-bromoacrylate as the vinyl halide precursor stereospecifically gave (2E,4E,6E)-diethyl-4,5-difluoroocta-2,4,6-trienedioate. This work demonstrates that a non-fluorine-containing vinyl bromide will selectively undergo coupling with 1 and enable the stereospecific preparation of a mixed polyene system. The (E)-ethyl 3-bromoacrylate coupling with 1 illustrates that mixed functionalized hexatriene systems can be easily accessed via this methodology. The X-ray structure of (2E,4E,6E)-diethyl-4,5-difluoroocta-2,4,6-trienedioate confirmed its structure.