Synthesis of Fluorinated Dimethyl Carbonates by Direct Fluorination

Growing interest has been focused on the development of fluorinated solvents for lithium batteries, because they have a number of benefits such as excellent oxidation durability, wide liquidus ranges, and nonflammability. Fluorination of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is carried out using molecular fluorine (15 vol.% F2/N2) at 5°C, and the fluorinated derivatives of the DMC are identified and characterized. The selectivity of monofluorinated dimethyl carbonate (MFDMC) is ca. 90% at early stage of the fluorination. The successive electrophilic substitution of a hydrogen with a fluorine is found to proceed for the direct fluorination of the DMC.