Trifluoroacetonitrile is a

nitrile In organic chemistry, a nitrile is any organic compound that has a functional group. The prefix ''cyano-'' is used interchangeably with the term ''nitrile'' in industrial literature. Nitriles are found in many useful compounds, including met ...

with the chemical formula CF₃CN.

Production

Trifluoroacetonitrile can be produced by dehydration of trifluoroacetamide with trifluoroacetic anhydride in pyridine or

carbon tetrachloride Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names (such as tetrachloromethane, also IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, recognised by the IUPAC, carbon tet in the cleaning industry, Halon-104 in firefighting, and Refrigerant-10 in HVAC ...

. This synthesis route was first described by Frédéric Swarts in 1922. Trifluoroacetonitrile can also be produced by reacting

1,1,1-trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane Asymmetrical trichlorotrifluoroethane, also called 1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane or CFC-113a is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). It has the formula . Environmental effects Ozone depletion A team of researchers at the University of East Ang ...

and ammonia at 610 °C.

Properties

Trifluoroacetonitrile is a colourless gas that is insoluble in water. Solid trifluoroacetonitrile's crystal structure is

orthorhombic In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Orthorhombic lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, resulting in a rectangular prism with a r ...

Uses

Trifluoroacetonitrile can be used to prepare other chemicals such as 3-(trifluoromethyl)isoquinoline and 2,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine.{{citation, surname1=Klaus Burger, Ulrike Waßmuth, Friedrich Hein, Silvia Rottegger, periodical=

Liebigs Annalen der Chemie ''Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie'' (often cited as just ''Liebigs Annalen'') was one of the oldest and historically most important journals in the field of organic chemistry worldwide. It was established in 1832 and edited by Justus von Liebig ...

, title=Trifluormethyl-substituierte Pyrimidine aus Enaminen und Trifluoracetonitril, volume=1984, issue=5, at=pp. 991–1002, date=1984, language=German, doi=10.1002/jlac.198419840517

References

Trifluoromethyl compounds Nitriles Organic compounds with 2 carbon atoms