The acidity of trifluoroacetone is greater than that of acetone, thus relatively mild basic conditions are sufficient to produce the enolate required for carbon-carbon bond formation reactions. Trifluoroacetone is therefore used as a building block in the synthesis of complex fluorinated molecules that contain a CF3 group. The uses of trifluoroacetone in preparing compounds of pharmaceutical and agricultural interest are illustrated by examples in the additional information section.