1,3,3-Trimethyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines and their crown-containing derivatives react with 6-nitro-2-polyfluoroalkylchromones in THF at room temperature with the formation of zwitterionic axially chiral 6H,7H-pyrido[2,1-a]isoquinolinium derivatives, which were converted to 2,6-diaryl-4-polyfluoroalkylpyridines, including those with the benzocrown-ether fragment. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.