Greenhouse gas finds a use

A potent greenhouse gas that is a by-product of refrigerant production can be used to add a fluorine-based group to molecules — a desirable reaction in the manufacture of drugs and agrochemicals.

G. K. Surya Prakash and his colleagues at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles report that the gas — which has the formula CF₃H and is known as fluoroform or HFC-23 — can be reacted with other molecules, resulting in the addition of CF₃ to carbon, silicon, boron or sulphur atoms. The reaction occurs under simple conditions and provides a rare use for a chemical with a global-warming potential 11,700 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.

Science 338, 1324–1327 (2012)