Perchloryl fluoride

Perchloryl fluoride is produced primarily by the fluorination of perchlorates. The initial syntheses in the early 1950s used fluorine gas or fluorides and anodic oxidation as the fluorinating agents, but these give explosive gaseous mixtures. A common fluorinator in modern syntheses is antimony pentafluoride: ==Applications==

Perchloryl fluoride is used in organic chemistry as a mild fluorinating agent. In the presence of aluminum trichloride, it has also been used as an electrophilic perchlorylation reagent for aromatic compounds. Perchloryl fluoride was investigated as a high performance liquid rocket fuel oxidizer. In comparison with chlorine pentafluoride and bromine pentafluoride, it has significantly lower specific impulse, but does not tend to corrode tanks. It does not require cryogenic storage. Rocket fuel chemist John Drury Clark reported in his book Ignition! that perchloryl fluoride is completely miscible with all-halogen oxidizers such as chlorine trifluoride and chlorine pentafluoride, and such a mixture provides the needed oxygen to properly burn carbon-containing fuels. It can also be used in flame photometry as an excitation source. Perchloryl fluoride is a better dielectric gas than SF6 while having a reasonably low boiling point allowing for operation under wide ranges of conditions. However, its chemical reactivity (comparative to other gases) hindered practical untilization in such aspects. ==Safety==

Perchloryl fluoride is toxic, with a TLV of 3 ppm. It is a strong lung- and eye-irritant capable of producing burns on exposed skin. Its IDLH level is 100 ppm. Symptoms of exposure include dizziness, headaches, syncope, and cyanosis. Exposure to toxic levels causes severe respiratory tract inflammation and pulmonary edema. ==See also==