Tropodegradable  ̄uorocarbon replacements for

ozone-depleting and global-warming chemicals

Robert E. Tapscott*, J. Douglas Mather

Center for Global Environmental Technologies, University of New Mexico,

901 University Boulevard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4339, USA

Received 9 May 1999; received in revised form 14 June 1999; accepted 14 June 1999

Abstract

Incorporation of certain molecular features into  ̄uorocarbons can decrease the tropospheric lifetime, providing commercially applicable

chemicals with low global warming and stratospheric ozone impacts. # 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Global warming; Ozone depletion; Atmospheric lifetime; Fluorocarbons

1. Introduction

On 16 September 1987 in Montreal, Canada, the Montreal

Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was

agreed to by 47 countries, of which 24 immediately signed.

The Protocol, which establishes controls on the production

and consumption of ozone depleting materials, went into

force on 1 January 1989, and has now been rati®ed by more

than 150 nations. The initial Protocol covered only chloro-

 ̄uorocarbons (CFCs) and halons, but has since been

extended to include other halocarbons, including hydrochloro ̄uorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrobromo ̄uorocarbons (HBFCs).

More recent was the adoption on 11 December 1997 of the

Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. When this regulation enters into

force, two of the families of chemicals proposed for replacement of halocarbons restricted under the Montreal Protocol Ð hydro ̄uorocarbons (HFCs) and per ̄uorocarbons

(PFCs) Ð will also be regulated due to atmospheric lifetime

and global warming concerns.

As a result of these international environmental regulations, many of the  ̄uorocarbon chemicals of greatest industrial importance are or will be subject to restriction [1]. One

approach that addresses restrictions under both the Montreal

and Kyoto Protocols is the development of  ̄uorine-containing chemicals with extremely short atmospheric lifetimes

(tropodegradable  ̄uorocarbons). We apply the term ``tropodegradable'' to compounds with an atmospheric lifetime

on the order of hours to a few weeks, lifetimes that we

have targeted in hopes of avoiding future problems due to

increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Tropodegradable  ̄uorocarbons simultaneously address three environmental concerns Ð ozone depletion, global warming, and

atmospheric lifetime. We recognize, of course, that shortened lifetimes may increase terrestrial environmental problems of local atmospheric pollution. Some tropodegradable

 ̄uorocarbons have promise as replacements for ozonedepleting and global-warming  ̄uorocarbons in such applications as ®re protection, cleaning, refrigeration, and foam

blowing.

2. Tropospheric removal processes

Four primary processes exist for removal of organic

molecules from the troposphere: (1) reaction with atmospheric hydroxyl free radicals, (2) photolysis, (3) physical

removal, and (4) reaction with tropospheric ozone. We have

not considered removal by thermal processes since highly

reactive species subject to such processes are unlikely to

have toxicological and stability characteristics making them

suitable for most commercial applications. Some chemicals

can also react with such atmospheric species as oxygen

atoms in the 3

P and 1D electronic states, NOx, nitric acid, and

peroxy species. Such reactions are relatively minor tropospheric degradation processes for most chemicals of commercial interest.

Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 101 (2000) 209±213

*

Corresponding author. Fax: 1-505-272-7203.

E-mail address: tapscott@nmeri.unm.edu (R.E. Tapscott)

0022-1139/00/$ ± see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

PII: S 0022-1139(99)00161-X
2.1. Hydroxyl reactions

All compounds containing a hydrogen atom can undergo

hydrogen atom abstraction reactions with tropospheric

hydroxyl free radicals (OH) (Reaction 1) [2].

RH  OH !

k1

OH 

R  H2O Reaction 1

CFCs have no hydrogen atoms and undergo little, if any,

reaction with OH in the atmosphere and, therefore, have

long atmospheric lifetimes and high ozone depletion potentials (ODPs). The HCFCs and HFCs, which are CFC

replacements, do undergo hydrogen atom abstraction by

tropospheric hydroxyl free radicals, though this is not

suf®ciently rapid to give the ODPs desired for the HCFCs

or the global warming potentials (GWPs) desired for the

HFCs since are both regulated or proposed for regulation

under the Montreal or Kyoto Protocols.

The organic free radical R formed in Reaction 1 rapidly

reacts with diatomic oxygen (O2) to form a peroxy radical

(ROO), which further reacts to give a series of products. In

most cases, these ®nal products are rapidly removed by

physical processes so that they do not contribute signi®-

cantly to ozone depletion or global warming.

For most saturated haloalkanes, Reaction 1 is too inef®-

cient to give tropodegradable compounds as de®ned here

(compounds with atmospheric lifetimes on the order of days

or weeks). This can be seen in the atmospheric lifetimes of

0.4±19.5 years for common HCFCs and from 1.5±250 years

for common HFCs [3]. Hydrogen atom abstraction by

atmospheric hydroxyl free radicals is the primary tropospheric removal process for both HCFCs and HFCs.

Note, however, that Reaction 1 is more rapid for many

compounds other than the normal haloalkanes. The activation energy for hydrogen atom abstraction decreases and the

reaction rate with hydroxyl free radicals increases (as

expected) with decreasing dissociation energy of the C±H

bond [4,5]. For example, for a wide range of compounds,

replacement of either a  ̄uorine atom or a hydrogen atom by

an oxygen atom alpha to a CH group decreases the bond

dissociation energy and increases the reaction rate (decreasing the atmospheric lifetime). Thus, aldehydes, (RC(O)H)

react suf®ciently rapidly (Reaction 2) that they have atmospheric lifetimes on the order of days [6,7]. A similar

phenomenon is seen for alcohols. Beta substitution generally has a much lower substituent effect on bond dissociation energies [8].

RCOH  OH ! CRO  H2O Reaction 2

OH free radicals can also add to unsaturated organics Ð

alkenes, alkynes, and aromatics Ð effecting a highly effective removal process. For alkenes, the hydroxyl radical adds

to give a highly energetic product radical (Reaction 3). If it

does not lose another group, the energetic product can then

either revert back to reactants, or it can be stabilized by

collision with another molecule, which can carry off the

excess energy.

The rate equation (Eq. (1)) for reaction of OH with

atmospheric contaminants (Reaction 4), where kOH is the

sum of the rate constants for hydrogen atom abstraction

k1

OH ÿ  and for hydroxyl addition k2OH ÿ ; is pseudo ®rst-order

if the atmospheric hydroxyl free radical concentration can

be averaged. This allows derivation of Eq. (2) to estimate the

e-folding atmospheric lifetime of a chemical (the time

required to reach 1/e of its initial concentration) for which OH provides the sole removal mechanism [9]. The globally

averaged tropospheric hydroxyl free radical concentration

has been reported as 9.7 105 molecules/cm3 [10].

C  OH !

kOH products Reaction 4

dC

dt  ÿ kOHC

OH; (1)

t1=e  1

kOH



OH

: (2)

2.2. Photolysis

Most organic compounds exhibit decreasing absorption

cross sections as the radiation wavelength increases (at least

for the ultraviolet and visible spectral regions). Since much

of the lower wavelength, higher energy solar radiation is

removed by stratospheric ozone before sunlight reaches the

troposphere (particularly UV-B radiation, with wavelengths

between 180 and 320 nm), many molecules do not encounter electromagnetic radiation of a suf®ciently short wavelength for absorption until they reach the stratosphere. For

example, the CFCs absorb little if any solar radiation

required for photolytic decomposition as they pass through

the troposphere. On the other hand, in the stratosphere,

where short wavelength UV radiation is intense, the CFCs

photodecompose to release chlorine.

Photodissociation in the troposphere requires that a compound absorb radiation in the wavelength range from 299 to

700 nm [11]. The photodissociation rate constant kphoto is a

function of the absorption cross section as a function of the

wavelength , (); the solar intensity as a function of ,

I(); and the photodissociation quantum yield, '() (Eq.

(3)). The atmospheric lifetime for photodissociation only is

then given by Eq. (4).

kphoto 

Z 700 nm

290 nm

I'd; (3)

t1=e  1=kphoto: (4)

210 R.E. Tapscott, J. Mather / Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 101 (2000) 209±213
In general, halocarbons require one of the groups carbonyl, nitrosyl, bromine, or iodine or conjugated multiple

bonds for signi®cant photodissociation in the troposphere

(i.e., absorption for   299±700 nm).

2.3. Physical removal processes

Physical removal processes include (1) rainout (absorption by water droplets), (2) aerosol scavenging, and (3)

solution into oceans [11]. The science of physical removal

lags far behind that of the other tropospheric removal

processes, and much is qualitative.

2.3.1. Rainout

Rainout is a highly effective tropospheric removal

mechanism for polar compounds such as hydrogen halides.

For highly hydrophilic compounds such as nitric acid, the

global time constant for rainout is about 7 days [12]. As the

polarity of a compound decreases, physical removal by

water absorption becomes less and less effective.

Eq. (5) has been proposed to estimate the atmospheric

lifetime for rainout [13]. Here,  is the solubility coef®cient

de®ned by Eq. (6). The saturation vapor density is the

density of vapor in equilibrium with liquid at a particular

temperature (which can be taken as 298 K). Rainout could

be signi®cant for highly water soluble compounds (large

values of ) such as alcohols, amines, and carbonyl compounds (esters, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones); however, substitution with  ̄uorine will greatly decrease the

solubility and, consequently, the rainout. For the relatively

nonpolar CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and PFCs of commercial

interest, the water solubility is suf®ciently low and the vapor

pressure suf®ciently high that tropospheric rainout is negligible. For example, HCFCs (probably the most polar of

these materials) have Henry's law constants around

100 L atm/mol [14] corresponding to values of around

10ÿ3 for  and t1/e values of 106 years.

tl=e  8000

 years; (5)

  solubility g=L

saturation vapor density g=L

: (6)

2.3.2. Aerosol scavenging

Aerosol scavenging involves adsorption of a chemical

onto solid particulates. Eq. (7) has been advanced to predict

the atmospheric lifetime due to aerosol scavenging [13].

Here, Pvap is the vapor pressure of a compound in torr at

298 K. For adequate tropodegradability of the compounds

of interest in this project, the atmospheric lifetime should be

less than one month (2.625 106 s). Solving for the Pvap

required to achieve this, one obtains Pvap  1.625 

10ÿ7 torr. This vapor pressure is far too low for any halocarbon suf®ciently volatile to be considered for use in most

CFC and halon applications.

tl=e  106

107Pvap  1 seconds: (7)

2.3.3. Solution into oceans

The lower limit for the tropospheric lifetime due to

absorption (solution) into oceans can be estimated by Eq.

(8) [15]. Here  is the (ocean) water solubility of a gas in

moles/m3 atm (essentially, a Henry's law constant), D the

molecular diffusivity of a gas in water in m2

/year [16], and z

the ®lm thickness in the classical stagnant ®lm model for gas

exchange. The ®lm thickness is approximately 30 

10ÿ6 m, and an upper limit on diffusivity at 298 K (giving

a lower limit on the lifetime) is approximately 6 

10ÿ5 cm2

/s (1.9 10ÿ1 m2/year) [15]. This gives an upper

limit on D/z of 6 103 m/year and a lifetime with a lower

bound given by Eq. (9). This is a lower bound to the

atmospheric lifetime, which is not only because a particularly large value was placed on D/z, but also because of

release from the ocean back into the atmosphere, a process

not taken into account in this approximation. To obtain a

lifetime of less than one month by this process, one needs

compounds with a water solubility greater than 60 moles/

m3 atm. This is a rather large solubility. For example, the

solubility of carbon dioxide, a highly water soluble gas, is

only about 40 moles/m3 atm [15]. There is a possibility that

ocean solubility could play some role in removal of carbonyl

compounds and alcohols, but the contribution is likely to be

small.

tl=e  3 105

D=z ; (8)

tl=e 

50

 years: (9)

2.4. Reaction with tropospheric ozone

The only chemicals exhibiting rapid reaction with tropospheric ozone are the alkenes. The mechanisms of these

reactions are not well understood, and the potential for

reaction of highly  ̄uorinated alkenes with tropospheric

ozone is uncertain. For a globally averaged tropospheric

ozone concentration of [O3]  5.0 1011 molecules/cm3

and with a maximum rate constant of 2 10ÿ16 cm3/molecule s [11], one can calculate a ®rst-order reaction rate

constant of k1  kO3 O3  1 10ÿ4: The determination of this rate constant allows a calculation for the atmospheric lifetime of t1/e  1/k1  104 s or less than one day.

Thus, removal by tropospheric ozone could be signi®cant

for alkenes.

3. Atmospheric lifetimes and tropodegradable

compounds

For each process considered, a rate constant can be

determined or estimated Ð kOH for reaction with hydroxyl

R.E. Tapscott, J. Mather / Journal of Fluorine Chemistry 101 (2000) 209±213 211
free radicals, kphysical for physical removal, kphoto for photolysis, and kO3 for reaction with tropospheric ozone. The rate

constants vary with the chemical being removed from the

troposphere and the atmospheric location of the chemical

(which determines the hydroxyl free radical concentration,

temperature, and solar  ̄ux). As an approximation, one can

use, for all but kphoto, globally averaged rate constants. An

overall pseudo ®rst-order rate constant k1  kOH



OH

kphysical  kphoto  kO3 O3: Here, [OH] is a globally averaged tropospheric hydroxyl free radical concentration

(9.7 105 molecules/cm3

), and [O3] is the globally averaged tropospheric ozone concentration (5.0 1011 molecules/cm3

). The rate constant allows calculation of the time

rate of change of the atmospheric concentration of a compound C as shown in the following equation. The atmospheric lifetime (t1/e) is then given by t1/e  1/k1.

dC

dt  ÿklC:

We have calculated or approximated rate constants for the

various removal processes. These analyses identify the

families shown in Table 1 as the most promising tropodegradable materials. Of particular interest is that the location

of the hydrogen atom in  ̄uoroalkyl amines and  ̄uoroalkyl

ethers is very important in determining the atmospheric

lifetime. Thus, hydrogen atoms attached to carbon atoms

adjacent to oxygen in ethers or adjacent to nitrogen in

amines appear to be particularly susceptible to abstraction

by hydroxyl free radicals.

We are now investigating the use of these materials as

replacements for ozone-depleting and global-warming

 ̄uorocarbons in a number of applications including ®re

protection, cleaning, refrigeration, and foam blowing. One

major problem is that introduction of the required functional

groups often decreases volatility. Thus, many of these

materials are more applicable to applications such as solvents and ®re protection, where higher boiling points may

be acceptable. Nevertheless, a signi®cant number of compounds have volatilities suf®cient to be considered in applications such as refrigeration.

Of particular interest are the  ̄uorine-containing alkenes,

which have exceedingly short atmospheric lifetimes. We

have been investigating the use of bromo ̄uoroalkenes, both

as replacements for halons, and as additives to reduce

 ̄ammabilities of normally  ̄ammable solvents, foam blowing agents, and refrigerants. Little toxicity data are available

for such compounds; however, we have carried out inhalation limit tests on eight bromo ̄uoroalkenes, exposing

groups of 10 rats to concentrations of 5% by volume for

30 min. The results are shown in Table 2. Even at this

extremely high concentration, half of the compounds tested

showed no lethality.

Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored, in part, by the US Air Force

and Applied Research Associates, by the Advanced Agent

Working Group, and by the US Department of Defense

Next-Generation Fire Suppression Technology Program,

funded by the DoD Strategic Environmental Research

and Development Program (SERDP).

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Table 1

Tropodegradable compounds

Primary removal mechanism Families

Hydroxyl reaction Alkenes, aromatics, amines and ethers,

particularly with hydrogen atoms on

carbon atoms alpha to nitrogen or oxygen

Photolysis Esters, carboxylic acids, ketones,

aldehydes

Physical removal Ketones, alcohols, some esters

Tropospheric ozone reaction Alkenes

Table 2

Toxicological results

Formula Number of rat deaths

CH2=CBrCF3 0

CHBr=CHCF3 0

CH2=CHCBrF2 7

CH2=CHCF2CBrF2 0

CH2=CBrCF2CF3 0

CH2=CBr(OCF3)CFCF3 10

CH2=CBrCF2CF2CF3 1

CH2=CBrCFC(CF3)2 10

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