Fluorination of propane and propene over cobalt(III) trifluoride and potassium tetrafluorocobaltate(III)

Abstract

Fluorination of propane and propene over cobalt(III) fluoride and potassium tetrafluorocobaltate(III) gave complex mixtures of products which have been identified to the 0.5% level. The reactions are valueless for preparative purposes. The mechanism of the fluorinations is not a simple F-for-H replacement, but requires an initial conversion of propane into propene followed by carbocation- and radical-mediated reactions: the carbocations can be quenched by fluoride ions, rearrange and eliminate, and the radicals can be oxidised to carbocations or quenched by fluorine atoms. Radical quenching tends to predominate late in the fluorination and carbocation reactions at the beginning.