History and Synthesis
The production of carbon tetrachloride has steeply declined since the 1980s due to environmental concerns and the decreased demand for CFCs, which were derived from carbon tetrachloride. In 1992, production in the U.S.-Europe-Japan was estimated at 720,000 tonnes.
Carbon tetrachloride was originally synthesised by the French chemist Henri Victor Regnault in 1839 by the reaction of chloroform with chlorine, but now it is mainly produced from methane:
- CH4 + 4 Cl2 → CCl4 + 4 HCl
The production often utilizes by-products of other chlorination reactions, such as from the syntheses of dichloromethane and chloroform. Higher chlorocarbons are also subjected to "chlorinolysis:"
- C2Cl6 + Cl2 → 2 CCl4
Prior to the 1950s, carbon tetrachloride was manufactured by the chlorination of carbon disulfide at 105 to 130 °C:
- CS2 + 3Cl2 → CCl4 + S2Cl2
Read more about this topic: Carbon Tetrachloride
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—David Hume (1711–1776)
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