Regioselective lithiation of aryl benzyl ethers

The lithiation of a series of aryl benzyl ethers containing –F and –OMe groups has been studied. It was found that the presence of one or two fluorine atoms in the meta position relative to the oxygen atom prevents the lithiation at the benzyl carbon atom. 3-(3′,5′-Dimethoxybenzyloxy)fluorobenzene was lithiated and next reacted with DMF to give 2-(3′,5′-dimethoxybenzyloxy)-6-fluorobenzaldehyde. A three-step procedure was applied to remove three hydrogen atoms from 1,3-difluoro-5-(3′,5′-dimethoxybenzyloxy)benzene and replace them with methyl groups by reactions of the lithiated compounds with MeI.