Trifluoroacetonitrile is a

nitrile In organic chemistry, a nitrile is any organic compound that has a functional group. The name of the compound is composed of a base, which includes the carbon of the , suffixed with "nitrile", so for example is called " propionitrile" (or pr ...

with the chemical formula CF₃CN.

Production

Trifluoroacetonitrile can be produced by

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

of trifluoroacetamide with

trifluoroacetic anhydride Trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) is the acid anhydride of trifluoroacetic acid. It is the perfluorinated derivative of acetic anhydride. Preparation Trifluoroacetic anhydride was originally prepared by the dehydration of trifluoroacetic acid with ...

pyridine Pyridine is a basic (chemistry), basic heterocyclic compound, heterocyclic organic compound with the chemical formula . It is structurally related to benzene, with one methine group replaced by a nitrogen atom . It is a highly flammable, weak ...

carbon tetrachloride Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names (such as carbon tet for short and tetrachloromethane, also IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, recognised by the IUPAC), is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CCl4. It is a n ...

. This synthesis route was first described by

Frédéric Swarts Frédéric Jean Edmond Swarts (2 September 1866 – 6 September 1940) was a Belgian chemist who prepared the first chlorofluorocarbon, CF2Cl2 (Freon-12) as well as several other related compounds. He was a professor in the civil engineering at t ...

in 1922. Trifluoroacetonitrile can also be produced by reacting

1,1,1-trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane 1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane, also called Asymmetrical trichlorotrifluoroethane or CFC-113a, is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) with the formula . Ozone depletion A team of researchers at the University of East Anglia analysed unpolluted ai ...

and

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

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 Lattice (group), lattices result from stretching a cubic crystal system, cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, res ...

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 Liebig's Annalen der Chemie'' (often cited as ''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 wi ...

, 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