Spectral separation of gaseous fluorocarbon mixtures and measurement of diffusion constants by 19F gas phase DOSY NMR

Diffusion-ordered (DOSY) NMR techniques have for the first time been applied to the spectral separation of mixtures of fluorinated gases by diffusion rates. A mixture of linear perfluoroalkanes from methane to hexane was readily separated at 25 °C in an ordinary experimental setup with standard DOSY pulse sequences. Partial separation of variously fluorinated ethanes was also achieved. The constants of self-diffusion of a set of pure perfluoroalkanes were obtained at pressures from 0.25 to 1.34 atm and temperatures from 20 to 122 °C. Under all conditions there was agreement within 20% of experimental self-diffusion constant D and values calculated by the semiempirical Fuller method.