Tetrahalomethanes are fully
halogenated
In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction that entails the introduction of one or more halogens into a compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transformation important, e.g. in the production of polymers, ...
methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...
derivatives of general formula CBr
kCl
lF
mI
nAt
p, where:
Tetrahalomethanes are on the border of
inorganic
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemist ...
and
organic chemistry, thus they can be assigned both inorganic and organic names by
IUPAC
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...
: tetrafluoromethane - carbon tetrafluoride, tetraiodomethane - carbon tetraiodide, dichlorodifluoromethane - carbon dichloride difluoride.
Each
halogen (
F,
Cl,
Br,
I,
At) forms a corresponding halomethane, but their stability decreases in order CF
4 > CH
4 > CCl
4 > CBr
4 > CI
4 from exceptionally stable gaseous
tetrafluoromethane
Tetrafluoromethane, also known as carbon tetrafluoride or R-14, is the simplest perfluorocarbon ( C F4). As its IUPAC name indicates, tetrafluoromethane is the perfluorinated counterpart to the hydrocarbon methane. It can also be classified as a ...
with bond energy 515 kJ.mol
−1 to solid
tetraiodomethane, depending on
bond energy
In chemistry, bond energy (''BE''), also called the mean bond enthalpy or average bond enthalpy is the measure of bond strength in a chemical bond. IUPAC defines bond energy as the average value of the gas-phase bond-dissociation energy (usually ...
.
Many mixed halomethanes are also known, such as
CBrClF2.
Uses
Fluorine, chlorine, and sometimes bromine-substituted halomethanes were used as
refrigerants, commonly known as
CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).
See also
*
Monohalomethane
*
Dihalomethane
*
Trihalomethane
In chemistry, trihalomethanes (THMs) are chemical compounds in which three of the four hydrogen atoms of methane () are replaced by halogen atoms. Many trihalomethanes find uses in industry as solvents or refrigerants. THMs are also environmenta ...
{{Halomethanes
Inorganic carbon compounds
Nonmetal halides
Halomethanes