The special properties of organic compounds containing fluorine give rise to applications in many fields, including liquid crystals, agrochemistry, and biological and clinical chemistry. However, while one chiral centre containing fluorine is usually straightforward to create, the formation of compounds with two or more -CHF- centres of defined stereochemistry presents major challenges. Here you will see some of the first symmetrical and enantiomerically pure 1,2-difluoro compounds ever to be made. Interestingly, they can act as catalysts in asymmetric synthesis.