Organic Halide

Organofluorides are very stable compounds that are nonflammable, have very limited toxicity, and do not react with other chemicals. Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are alkyl fluorides that consist of chains of carbon atoms bonded only to fluorine atoms. In 1966, scientists demonstrated that large amounts of oxygen could be dissolved in PFCs. Two years later, scientists replaced the blood in a laboratory rat with a solution of oxygen dissolved in PFCs. The animal lived and scientists began researching the use of PFCs as artificial blood. In 1990, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Fluosol-DA, a PFC solution licensed to Green Cross Corporation, as an oxygen carrier during the medical process of cleaning heart arteries with a balloon. PFCs are also used to temporarily replace eye fluid during surgery on the eye. PFC chains are the foundation of many products used to repel water, oil, and dirt from carpets and upholstery. Many aryl fluorides are important pharmaceutical and agricultural products. The anti-inflammatory agent dislunisal, the tranquilizer haloperidol, and the sedative flurazepam hydrochloride are examples of drugs that are also aryl fluorides. Fluometuron, an aryl fluoride herbicide, is used to kill weeds in grain and cotton fields. Flutriafol, another aryl fluoride, is a fungicide used to stop diseases on the grains used in the manufacture of various cereals.