Treatment of readily available α,α-difluoro- and α-fluoroarylacetic acids with Selectfluor under Ag(I) catalysis led to decarboxylative fluorination. This operationally simple reaction gave access to tri- and difluoromethylarenes applying a late-stage fluorination strategy. Translation to [(18)F]labeling is demonstrated using [(18)F]Selectfluor bis(triflate), a reagent affording [(18)F]tri- and [(18)F]difluoromethylarenes not within reach with [(18)F]F2.

The Ag-mediated electrophilic [(18)F]fluorination of an arylboronic ester is reported. This new radiochemical transformation uses [(18)F]selectfluor bis(triflate) in acetone. The process gave 6-[(18)F]fluoro-L-DOPA with a RCY of 19 ± 12% and a specific activity of 2.6 ± 0.3 GBq μmol(-1).