Packaging
TFE is available from Halocarbon in one-gallon cans, 55-pound carboys and 600-pound drums. Larger containers can be available upon request.
Applications
Pharmaceutical Uses
TFE is the major raw material for three inhalation anesthetics: isoflurane, CF3CClHOCF2H; desflurane, CF3CFHOCF2H; and fluroxene, CF3CH2OCH=CH2. While fluroxene is no longer used, it was the first low flammability anesthetic used to replace ether. Both isoflurane and desflurane are currently in wide use.
Solvent for Nylon
The solubility of nylons in TFE is used to join matching surfaces of solid nylon parts. If both surfaces are wetted with TFE and then fitted together, a permanent joint will be made. This technique is used commercially to manufacture pollution control valves for automobiles. TFE’s nylon solubility is also used to make nonfraying ends for nylon rope and solutions for quality control of nylon production. Nylon solutions in TFE can be used as vehicles for adhesives, pigments, metal powders or dyes. These mixtures yield nylon-toughened adhesives or deposit tough surface coatings.
Other Uses
The trifluoroethoxy group in place of the ethoxy group in a dye produces a different color. TFE is also useful as a solvent to increase the quantum yields of fluorescing dyes in lasers. TFE-water mixtures are solvents for both salts and organic molecules. These materials can be brought together in solutions to probe the mechanisms of reactions. TFE’s combination of low nucleophilicity, basicity and higher ionizing power than alcohols like methanol and ethanol makes it especially useful for such studies. The low specific conductance of TFE compared to solvents such as formic and acetic acids allows ionic reactions to be monitored by conductometric measurements. It is also useful as a solvent for acid-sensitive substrates. The products made from TFE have many, and frequently unpredictable.