“…The exclusive formation of one stereoisomer of dialkyl 4,4,4,3,2,1-hexafluoro-3,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)butylphosphonates (9a and b) can be explained as follows. Firstly, as we earlier assumed, the radical centre (A) has a planar structure; this assumption was made from the results of studying the intermediate radicals by ESR and by molecular mechanics [15,16]. Secondly, the mobility of the substituents at the radical centre in branched perfluorinated radicals is limited [17], probably because of the high energetic rotation barrier of the bulky substituents [(CF 3 Treatment of phosphonate (9a) with BF 3 ÁNEt 3 led to a 1:1 mixture of the fluoroalkenylphosphonates (10) and (11).…”