Fluorination

Fluorination is a chemical reaction that introduces fluorine atoms into a molecule or material. It can alter properties such as reactivity, stability, and surface energy.

Electrophilic fluorination: Fluorination that transfers electrophilic fluorine to an electron-rich reaction site. This pathway installs fluorine at nucleophilic centers using reagents that act as sources of F⁺.
Medicinal chemistry: The discipline that designs and studies biologically active compounds for therapeutic use. Adding fluorine can change a drug candidate’s metabolic stability, potency, or distribution.
Chlorination: A chemical reaction that introduces chlorine atoms into a molecule or material. Chlorination often uses analogous substitution chemistry, but chlorine differs in size and bond properties.
Fluorine: The chemical element with atomic number 9, the most electronegative element. Its extreme electronegativity and reactivity explain why fluorination needs specialized chemistry.
Nucleophilic fluorination: Fluorination that transfers fluoride to an electrophilic reaction site. Fluoride displacement and addition reactions provide a major route to carbon–fluorine bonds.
Fluoropolymers: Polymers whose structures contain carbon–fluorine bonds. Fluorination produces polymers with properties such as chemical resistance and low friction.
Bromination: A chemical reaction that introduces bromine atoms into a molecule or material. Bromination offers a useful comparison because bromine is less electronegative and more polarizable than fluorine.
Persistent organic pollutants: Toxic organic chemicals that resist environmental degradation and can accumulate in organisms. Some persistent fluorinated compounds remain in ecosystems long after their production or release.
Radical fluorination: Fluorination through reactions involving fluorine-centered or carbon-centered radicals. Radical chains can replace hydrogen with fluorine, though controlling selectivity is difficult.
Polytetrafluoroethylene: A fluoropolymer consisting of repeating tetrafluoroethylene units, widely known as PTFE. Its fully fluorinated carbon backbone gives it exceptional chemical resistance and a low-friction surface.

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