Chloroform Formula

Trichloromethane is the chemical name of chloroform, an organic chemical having the molecular formula of chloroform is CHCl3. As a predecessor to PTFE, it is a colourless, pungent-smelling, viscous liquid that is mass-produced on a vast scale. It's also a predecessor of a number of different refrigerants. It is a trihalomethane and one of the four chloromethanes. When breathed or consumed, it acts as a strong anaesthetic, euphoriant, anxiolytic, and sedative.

In this article, we will study Trichloromethane and Chloroform Chemical Formula in detail.

Chloroform Structural Formula

As we already studied the molecular formula chloroform. Now let's see the chloroform structural formula.

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Natural occurrence of Molecular Formula of Ketone

The overall global flux of chloroform through the environment is estimated to be around 660,000 tonnes per year, with around 90% of emissions coming from natural sources. Chloroform is produced by a variety of seaweeds, and it is also thought to be produced by fungus in the soil. Natural chloroform generation in soils is thought to be aided by abiotic processes, while the mechanism is unknown.

Properties of Chloroform

Chloroform rapidly volatilizes from soil and surface water and degrades in the presence of oxygen to create phosgene, dichloromethane, formyl chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen chloride. It has a half-life of 55 to 620 days in the air. Water and soil biodegradation are sluggish. Chloroform does not bioaccumulate in aquatic creatures in considerable amounts.

Chemical Reactions of Chloroform

1. Chloroform is made in industry by heating a combination of chlorine and either chloromethane (CH3Cl) or methane (CH4). A free radical halogenation occurs at 400–500 °C, transforming these precursors to more chlorinated compounds:

CH4 + Cl2 → CH3Cl + HCl

CH3Cl + Cl2 → CH2Cl2 + HCl

CH2Cl2 + Cl2 → CHCl3 + HCl

2. Chloroform is chlorinated again to produce carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 ):

CHCl3 + Cl2 → CCl4 + HCl

3. This technique produces a mixture of four chloromethanes (chloromethane, dichloromethane, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride), which can be separated by distillation. Chloroform can also be made on a small scale by combining acetone and sodium hypochlorite in a haloform reaction:

3 NaClO + (CH3)2CO → CHCl3 + 2 NaOH + CH3COONa

Uses of Chloroform

1. Deuterated chloroform formula is a single-deuterium-atom isotopologue of chloroform. In NMR spectroscopy, CDCl3 is a common solvent. The haloform reaction, which involves combining acetone (or ethanol) with sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite, produces deuterochloroform. For the manufacturing of conventional chloroform, the haloform technique is no longer used. The interaction of sodium deuteroxide with chloral hydrate produces deuterochloroform.

2. Inadvertently, the haloform reaction can occur in household settings. Bleaching with hypochlorite produces halogenated chemicals as a byproduct, with chloroform being the most common. Chloroform, as well as chloroacetone and dichloroacetone, can be produced by mixing sodium hypochlorite solution (chlorine bleach) with common household liquids such acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, ethanol, or isopropyl alcohol.

3. The most important reaction of chloroform with hydrogen fluoride to produce monochlorodifluoromethane (CFC-22), a precursor in the manufacturing of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), is on a large scale:

4. In the presence of a catalytic amount of mixed antimony halides, the reaction is carried out. Tetrafluoroethylene, the major precursor to Teflon, is made from chlorodifluoromethane. Chlorodifluoromethane (classified as R-22) was also a popular refrigerant prior to the Montreal Protocol.

5. Hydrogen bonding occurs when hydrogen is bonded to carbon in chloroform. In addition to pesticide formulations, chloroform is used as a solvent for fats, oils, rubber, alkaloids, waxes, gutta-percha, and resins, as a washing agent, grain fumigant, in fire extinguishers, and in the rubber sector. In NMR spectroscopy, CDCl3 is a common solvent.

6. Chloroform hydrogen bonds to a variety of Lewis bases in solvents like CCl4 and alkanes. HCCl3 is classed as a hard acid, with acid values EA = 1.56 and CA = 0.44 according to the ECW model.

7. Chloroform is used as a reagent to produce the dichlorocarbene: CCl2 group. It produces dichlorocarbene: CCl2, by reacting with aqueous sodium hydroxide in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst. In the Reimer–Tiemann reaction, this reagent causes ortho-formylation of activated aromatic rings like phenols, resulting in aryl aldehydes. Alternatively, an alkene can trap the carbene, resulting in a cyclopropane derivative. Chloroform, in addition to alkenes, creates the CHCl2free radical in the Kharasch reaction.

8. Chloroform's anaesthetic properties were first documented in 1842 in a thesis by Robert Mortimer Glover, which received the Harveian Society's Gold Medal for that year. To prove his views, Glover conducted actual experiments with dogs. Glover improved his views and presented them in the summer of 1847 in his doctoral thesis at the University of Edinburgh. James Young Simpson, a Scottish obstetrician, was one of the people who had to read the thesis, but afterwards claimed that he never did and came to his conclusions on his own.

Conclusion

The organic compound trichloromethane, sometimes known as chloroform, has the formula CHCl3. It is a colourless, pungent-smelling, viscous liquid that is mass-produced on a large scale as a forerunner of PTFE. It's also the forerunner of a number of other refrigerants. It is one of the four chloromethanes and a trihalomethane. It functions as a powerful anaesthetic, euphoriant, anxiolytic, and sedative when inhaled or ingested.