A new ionic liquid [bdmim][F] has been prepared and fully characterized. Its potential as a fluoride source for the desulfurization–fluorination process has been evaluated with success. The carbon–sulfur double bond of xanthates and thiocarbonates has been difluorinated to give rise to small libraries of halogenated ketals and thioketals.
Treatment of xanthates R-OC(S)SMe with (HF)9/Py and 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin gives trifluoromethyl ethers R-OCF3 through intermediates R-OCF2SMe, which could be isolated upon treatment of xanthates with n-Bu4N+H2F3− and N-bromosuccinimide.