51311-17-2

Grey powder

Used in cathodic materials, lubricants, image recording, pressure-sensitive copying and carbon filament incandescent lamps.

ChEBI: Fluoromethane is a member of the class of fluoromethanes that is methane in which a single hydrogen is substituted by a fluorine atom. It has a role as a refrigerant. It is a member of fluoromethanes, a fluorohydrocarbon and a member of methyl halides.

Prepared by fluorination of graphite at room temperature in the presence of HF. A stream of F3 at 4-5 liters/hr. is passed through a copper wash flask held at 0°C and filled with anhydrous HF, and then through an attached Cu tube (about 2 cm. in diameter). A Cu boat containing a thin layer of about 1 g. of graphite is placed in the tube. The end of the tube is closed with a screw-on cap having a narrow opening. The reaction is finished after one or two hours, as shown by the constant weight of the product. To remove excess HF, the preparation is washed with dilute base, water and alcohol and dried to room temperature over soda-lime. The yield is quantitative.