Abstract Two syntheses of 3-fluorofuran-2 (5H)-one (1) based on Wittig-Horner reaction of ethyl (diethoxyphosphoryl) fluoroacetate (15) with 2-oxoethyl acetate (16) or on transformation of D-erythronolactone (10) are given. 3-Fluorofuran-2 (5H)-one (1) and ethyl 2-fluorobut-2-enoate (2) undergo conjugate addition with soft nucleophiles based on arene- carboxaldehyde dithioacetals 7 to form 2-fluorolactones 3 and 2-fluoroalkanoates 4. ...