SELECTIVE FREE-RADICAL DECHLORINATION OF 1,1-DICHLORO-2,2,2-TRIFLUOROETHYL DIFLUOROMETHYL ETHER INITIATED THERMALLY OR BY UV-LIGHT - A PRACTICAL AND GREEN METHOD FOR ISOFLURANE SYNTHESIS
K. Ramig et al., SELECTIVE FREE-RADICAL DECHLORINATION OF 1,1-DICHLORO-2,2,2-TRIFLUOROETHYL DIFLUOROMETHYL ETHER INITIATED THERMALLY OR BY UV-LIGHT - A PRACTICAL AND GREEN METHOD FOR ISOFLURANE SYNTHESIS, Journal of fluorine chemistry, 80(2), 1996, pp. 101-104
Treatment of 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether (3
) with 2-propanol followed by either irradiation with UV light or heat
ing with radical initiators gives the inhalational anesthetic isoflura
ne. Unlike most other common dechlorination methods, monoreduction is
the exclusive process and the by-products acetone and HCl are relative
ly benign. Some comments about the mechanism of the reduction will be
presented, along with solutions to problems encountered during scale-u
p.