Digitally signed by Jason Raquin Roque DN: cn=Jason Raquin Roque, o, ou, email=jason_mike15@yahoo. com, c=PH Date: 2012.05.

15 14:18:23 +08'00'

Carbon tetrachloride was used in fire extinguishers and glass "anti-fire grenades" from the late nineteenth century until around the end of World War II. Experimentation with chloroalkanes for fire suppression on military aircraft began at least as early as the 1920s. Freon is a trade name for a group of CFCs which are used primarily as refrigerants, but also have uses in fire-fighting and as propellants in aerosol cans The Belgian scientist Frederic Swarts pioneered the synthesis of CFCs in the 1890s. He developed an effective exchange agent to replace chloride in carbon tetrachloride with fluoride to synthesize CFC-11 (CCl3F) and CFC-12 (CCl2F2). In the late 1920s, Thomas, Midgley Jr. improved the process of synthesis and led the effort to use CFC as refrigerant to replace ammonia (NH3), chloromethane (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), which are toxic but were in common use. In searching for a new refrigerant, requirements for the compound were: low boiling point, low toxicity, and to be generally non-reactive. In a demonstration for the American Chemical Society, Midgley flamboyantly demonstrated all these properties by inhaling a breath of the gas and using it to blow out a candle in 1930.

Did you know that Chlorofluorocarbons are one of the major causes why there is an ozone depletion. It is considered one of the greenhouse gases. Did you know that this compound can be used as refrigerant, blowing agents, propellants in medical application, and degreasing solvents. This compound also is one of the tremendous causes of GLOBAL WARMING!

Submitted by:

ROQUE, JASON R.
As project for Organic Chemistry to Sir. Gideon A. Legaspi

REFERENCES:
Retrieved from January 26, 2011

http://www.wikipedia.org/Chlorofluorocarbon http://www.biologyonline.org/dictionary/Chlorofluoroca rbons http://www.wordiq.com/chlorofluorocarbon

A chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is an organic compound that contains carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane and ethane. A common subclass is the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which contain hydrogen, as well. They are also commonly known by the DuPont trade name Freon. The most common representative is dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12 or Freon-12).

A CFCs and HCFCs are usually produced by halogen exchange starting from chlorinated methanes and ethanes. Illustrative is the synthesis of chlorodifluoromethane from chloroform:

Applications exploit the low toxicity, low reactivity, and low flammability of the CFCs and HCFCs. Every permutation of fluorine, chlorine, and hydrogen based on methane and ethane has been examined and most have been commercialized. Furthermore, many examples are known for higher numbers of carbon as well as related compounds containing bromine. Uses include refrigerants, blowing agents, propellants in medicinal applications, and degreasing solvents. Billions of kilograms of chlorodifluoromethane are produced annually as a precursor to tetrafluoroethylene, themonomer that is converted into Teflon. During World War II, various chloroalkanes were in standard use in military aircraft, although these early halons suffered from excessive toxicity. Halon 1301 was conducted under the auspices of the US Armed Forces, while Halon 1211 was, initially, mainly developed in the UK. By the late 1960s they were standard in many applications where water and drypowder extinguishers posed a threat of damage to the protected property, including computer rooms, telecommunications switches, laboratories, museums and art collections. By the early 1980s, bromofluoroalkanes were in common use on aircraft, ships, and large vehicles as well as in computer facilities and galleries.

HCCl3 + 2 HF HCF2Cl + 2 HCl The brominated derivatives are generated by free-radical reactions of the chlorofluorocarbons, replacing C-H bonds with C-Br bonds. The production of the anesthetic 2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane ("halothane") is illustrative:

CF3CH2Cl + Br2 CF3CHBrCl + HBr

OZONE LAYER DEPLETION:

Their commercial and industrial value notwithstanding, CFCs were eventually discovered to pose a serious environmental threat. Studies indicated that CFCs, once released into the atmosphere, accumulate in the stratosphere, where they contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere causes the CFC molecules to dissociate, producing chlorine atoms and radicals (i.e., chlorodifluoromethyl radical; free radicals are species that contain one or more unpaired electrons).

The most important reaction of the CFCs is the photo-induced scission of a C-Cl bond:

As in simpler alkanes, carbon in the CFCs is tetrahedral. Since the fluorine and chlorine atoms differ greatly in size from hydrogen and from each other, the methane derived CFCs deviate from perfect tetrahedral symmetry. The chlorofluorocarbon chemical structure is what makes CFCs have a strong bond between all the atoms.

CCl3F CCl2F. + Cl. The chlorine atom, written often as Cl., behaves very differently from the chlorine molecule (Cl2). The radical Cl. is long-lived in the upper atmosphere, where it catalyzes the conversion of ozone into O2. Ozone absorbs UV-radiation better than does O2, so its depletion allows more of this high energy radiation to reach the Earth's surface. Bromine atoms are even more efficient catalysts, hence brominated CFCs are also regulated.

The chlorine atoms then react with ozone, initiating a process whereby a single chlorine atom can cause the conversion of thousands of ozone molecules to oxygen.