Chloroacetic acid was first prepared (in impure form) by the French chemist
Félix LeBlanc (1813–1886) in 1843 by
chlorinating acetic acid in the presence of sunlight, and in 1857 (in pure form) by the German chemist Reinhold Hoffmann (1831–1919) by refluxing
glacial acetic acid in the presence of
chlorine and
sunlight, and then by the French chemist
Charles Adolphe Wurtz by
hydrolysis of
chloroacetyl chloride (), also in 1857. Chloroacetic acid is prepared industrially by two routes. The predominant method involves
chlorination of
acetic acid, with
acetic anhydride as a
catalyst: : This route suffers from the production of
dichloroacetic acid and
trichloroacetic acid as impurities, which are difficult to separate by
distillation: : : The second method entails hydrolysis of
trichloroethylene: : The hydrolysis is conducted at 130–140 °C in a concentrated (at least 75%) solution of
sulfuric acid. This method produces a highly pure product, unlike the
halogenation route. However, the significant quantities of
HCl released have led to the increased popularity of the halogenation route. Approximately 420,000
tonnes are produced globally per year. ==Uses and reactions==