No abstract

Arylthiophene derivatives are potential components of functional materials, including organic electronics. Herein, we describe a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction of polyfluoroarenes using silylthiophenes as nucleophiles in the presence of a catalytic amount of a fluoride salt. Various polyfluoroarene-capped thiophene derivatives were synthesized via double arylation under transition metal-free conditions. A fluoride ion activates a silylthiophene to trigger a nucleophilic aromatic substitution, subsequently affording the coupling product along with elimination of the fluoride ion, which serves as a promoter of the catalytic reaction.