Optically active organofluorine compounds are attractive in both modern pharmaceutical chemistry and materials science, [1] especially the simple chiral vicinal fluorohydrins that are employed as important building blocks in the synthesis of polyfunctional bioactive molecules.[2] Fluorinated malonates with a fluorine atom at a quaternary carbon center are a class of versatile and important monofluorinated chiral synthons [2] utilized in the synthesis of liquid crystals, [3] antitumor agents, [4] enzyme inhibitors, [5] antiviral agents, [6a] antibiotics, [6b] and anti-Alzheimer agents.[6c] A variety of enantioselective syntheses of fluorinated compounds have been developed for the elaboration of optically active fluorinated malonates, as well as their synthetic equivalents such as vicinal fluorohydrins and fluorinated half hydroxy esters.[2] These approaches include the enzymatic desymmetrization of substituted 2-fluoromalonic diesters, 2-fluoropropane-1,3-diols, and 2-fluoro-1,3-diacetoxypropane derivatives, which lead in each case to similar 2-fluorinated synthons (Scheme 1). [2,7] These microbial transformations are more practical than the chemical approaches [8] for obtaining the target compounds; unfortunately, the resulting enantioselectivity is highly dependent on the substrate and thus significantly limits the applicability of this process.We have recently reported a highly enantioselective fluorination [9] of b-keto esters and oxindoles catalyzed by BoxÀPh/Cu(OTf) 2 or DBFOXÀPh/Ni(ClO 4 ) 2 (Box = bisoxazoline, Tf = triflate, DBFOX = 4,6-dibenzofurandiyl-2,2'-bisoxazoline. [9a, b] In response to the limitations associated with the use of microbial desymmetrization for the preparation of chiral fluorinated malonates and hydroxy esters, we have now extended our protocol to the desymmetrization-like enantioselective fluorination of malonates 1 and herein show that a DBFOXÀPh/Zn(OAc) 2 complex is an effective catalyst to give the optically active 2-fluorinated malonates 2 with very high enantioselectivity (up to 99 % ee). The 2-fluoromalonates 2 can be selectively converted into 2-fluorinated hydroxy esters 3. The synthetic utility of the method was demonstrated by the syntheses of pharmaceutically attractive compounds, namely, chiral fluorinated a-benzyl-b-alanine 4, fluorinated b-lactam 5, and fluoro-alacepril (6); Scheme 2. The synthesis of an HIV-1 protease inhibitor was also achieved through the chemoselective ester-amide exchange reaction of chiral malonates 2.Diastereoselective fluorination of malonates has been reported by Fukumoto and co-workers.[8b-d] l-Menthylphenyl esters of malonates were fluorinated with fluoropyridinium triflate in high yield with moderate diastereoselectivities by Scheme 1. Enzymatic desymmetrization approach for the synthesis of simple fluorinated synthons.Scheme 2. Desymmetrization-like approach for the synthesis of 2 and its application to pharmaceutically attractive molecules.