Process of Fluorinating Inorganic or Organic Compounds by Direct Fluorination

A process for the manufacture of a fluorinated compound by direct fluorination, wherein the process comprises the steps of:

• a) provision of a liquid medium comprising or consisting of a starting compound having one or more hydrogen atoms that are capable of being substituted by means of a halogenation reaction;
• b) provision of a fluorination gas comprising or consisting of elemental fluorine (F2), wherein the fluorine is present in the fluorination gas in a high concentration of at least substantially more than, in particular very much more than 15% by volume (vol.-%), preferably equal to or more than 20% by volume (vol.-%);
• c) provision of a reactor or reactor system, resistant to elemental fluorine (F2) and hydrogen fluoride (HF);
• d) passing the fluorination gas of b), in a reactor or reactor system of c), through the liquid medium of a) comprising or consisting of the starting compound, and thereby reacting the starting compound with the elemental fluorine (F2) to substitute in the starting compound at least one of the one or more hydrogen atoms for fluorine, and wherein the reaction is carried out at temperature of from about −30° C. to about +100° C. and a pressure of from about 1 bar absolute bar to about 20 bar absolute bar;
• e) withdrawing the fluorinated compound formed in step d) from the reactor or reactor system of c);
• f) to obtain a fluorinated compound wherein at least one of the one or more hydrogen atoms of the starting compound is replaced by fluorine atom;
• with the proviso that the starting compound is not benzene, not benzoic acid, and not a benzoic acid derivative, and the fluorinated compound produced is not a fluorinated benzene, especially not monofluorobenzene.