Facile Access to Fluoromethylated Arenes by Nickel‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling between Arylboronic Acids and Fluoromethyl Bromide

The nickel‐catalyzed fluoromethylation of arylboronic acids was achieved with the industrial raw material fluoromethyl bromide (CH 2 FBr) as the coupling partner. The reaction proceeded under mild reaction conditions with high efficiency; it features the use of a low‐cost nickel catalyst, synthetic simplicity, and excellent functional‐group compatibility, and provides facile access to fluoromethylated biologically relevant molecules. Preliminary mechanistic studies showed that a single‐electron‐transfer (SET) pathway is involved in the catalytic cycle.