Chlorotrifluoromethane
chemical compound
Chlorotrifluoromethane, R-13, CFC-13, or Freon 13, is a non-flammable, non-corrosive, nontoxic chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and also a mixed halomethane. It is a man-made substance used primarily as a refrigerant. When released into the environment, CFC-13 has a high ozone depletion potential, and long atmospheric lifetime. Only a few other greenhouse gases surpass CFC-13 in global warming potential (GWP). The IPCC AR5 reported that CFC-13's atmospheric lifetime was 640 years.
Production
CFC-13—like all chlorofluorocarbon compounds—contains atoms of carbon (C), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F).
It can be prepared by reacting carbon tetrachloride with hydrogen fluoride in the presence of a catalytic amount of antimony pentachloride:
CCl4 + 3 HF → CClF3 + 3 HCl
This reaction can also produce trichlorofluoromethane (CCl3F), dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl2F2) and tetrafluoromethane (CF4).
Montreal Protocol
Following the unanimous ratification of the 1987 Montreal Protocol—in response to concerns about the role of concentrations of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in ozone layer-depletion in the stratosphere—a process was put into place to gradually phase out and replace CFC-13 and all the other CFCs. Research in the 1980s said that these man-made CFC compounds had opened a hole in ozone layer in the upper atmosphere or stratosphere that protects life on earth from UV radiation.
CFC-13's ozone depletion potential (ODP) is high— 1 (CCl3F = 1)—it is categorized as a Class I in the IPCC's list of ozone-depleting substances.
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