Metal fluorides-mediated direct ethene oxyfluorination

Recent results on the direct ethene oxyfluorination to hydrofluorocarbons are reported. The direct conversion of C–H to C–F bonds in the ethene oxyfluorination reaction with different metal fluorides, in a continuous flow reactor between 673 and 773 K, mainly yields fluoroethene (HFC-1141) and other by-products. Mixed fluorides yielded improved reactant conversion and higher selectivity to vinyl fluoride in comparison to the single metal fluorides. The CuFeF5 composition was unprecedently demonstrated to be the most effective formulation among those studied. Furthermore, the spent catalysts could be somehow regenerated under O2 in between two runs, yielding higher ethene conversions and better selectivity to vinyl fluoride when tested in the ethene oxyfluorination at higher temperature in the second run.