Fluorocarbon - Manufacture

Manufacture

Prior to World War II, the only known route to fluorocarbons was by direct reaction of fluorine with the hydrocarbon. This highly exothermic process was capable only of synthesising tetrafluoromethane, hexafluoroethane and octafluoropropane; larger hydrocarbons decomposed in the extreme conditions. The Manhattan project saw the need for some very robust chemicals, including a wider range of fluorocarbons, requiring new manufacturing methods. The so-called "catalytic" method involved reacting fluorine and hydrocarbon on a bed of gold-plated copper turnings, the metal removing the heat of the reaction (so not really acting as a catalyst at all), allowing larger hydrocarbons to survive the process. However, it was the Fowler process that allowed the large scale manufacture of fluorocarbons required for the Manhattan project.

Read more about this topic:  Fluorocarbon

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