Hexachloroacetone Explained

Hexachloroacetone is an organic compound with the formula (Cl₃C)₂CO. It is also called hexachloropropanone or perchloroacetone. Numbers indicating the position of the chlorine-atoms are generally omitted as all the possible positions are substituted with chlorine. It is a colorless liquid, slightly soluble in water.

Reactions and uses

Hexachloroacetone functions equivalently to trichloroacetyl chloride, i.e. as an trichloroacetylating agent.^[1]

The main use of hexachloroacetone is as a pesticide. For the use of hexachloroacetone in the preparation of a novel insect repellent see Perkow reaction. The industrial route to hexafluoroacetone involves treatment of hexachloroacetone with HF:^[2]

(CCl₃)₂CO + 6 HF → (CF₃)₂CO + 6 HCl

See also

• Chloroacetone
• Dichloroacetone

Notes and References

1. 10.15227/orgsyn.040.0103. Bernard Sukornick. α,α,α-Trichloroacetanilide. Organic Syntheses. 1960. 40. 103.
2. Encyclopedia: Günter Siegemund . Werner Schwertfeger . Andrew Feiring . Bruce Smart . Fred Behr . Herward Vogel . Blaine McKusick . Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Wiley-VCH. Weinheim. 2002. 10.1002/14356007.a11_349. Fluorine Compounds, Organic. 3-527-30673-0.