a chlorofluorocarbon (cfc) is an organic compound that contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane. they are also commonly known by the dupont brand name freon. the most common representative is dichlorodifluoromethane (r-12 or freon-12). many cfcs have been widely used as refrigerants, propellants (in aerosol applications), and solvents. because cfcs contribute to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere, the manufacture of such compounds has been phased out under the montreal protocol, and they are being replaced with other products such as hfcs"climate change." the white house. the white house, n.d. web. 6 aug. 2014. . (e.g., r-410a), hydrocarbons,mironov, og. "hydrocarbon pollution of the sea and its influence on marine organisms - springer." hydrocarbon pollution of the sea and its influence on marine organisms - springer. n.p., 1 apr. 1968. web. 8 aug. 2014. . and co2. however, these replacements are sometimes considered pollutants in their own right. ozone layer treaty could tackle super polluting hfcs == structure, properties and production ==  as in simpler alkanes, carbon in the cfcs and the hcfcs is tetrahedral. because the fluorine and chlorine atoms differ greatly in size and effective charge from hydrogen and from each other, the methane-derived cfcs deviate from perfect tetrahedral symmetry.gÃ¼nter siegemund, werner schwertfeger, andrew feiring, bruce smart, fred behr, herward vogel, blaine mckusick "fluorine compounds, organic" ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry, wiley-vch, weinheim, 2002.  the physical properties of cfcs and hcfcs are tunable by changes in the number and identity of the halogen atoms. in general they are volatile, but less so than their parent alkanes. the decreased volatility is attributed to the molecular polarity induced by the halides, which induces intermolecular interactions. thus, methane boils at â161&nbsp;Â°c whereas the fluoromethanes boil between â51.7 (cf2h2) and â128&nbsp;Â°c (cf4). the cfcs have still higher boiling points because the chloride is even more polarizable than fluoride. because of their polarity, the cfcs are useful solvents, and their boiling points make them suitable as refrigerants. the cfcs are far less flammable than methane, in part because they contain fewer c-h bonds and in part because, in the case of the chlorides and bromides, the released halides quench the free radicals that sustain flames. the densities of cfcs are higher than their corresponding alkanes. in general the density of these compounds correlates with the number of chlorides. 
Aerosol_propellants Belgian_inventions Chlorofluorocarbons DuPont Environmental_controversies Firefighting Greenhouse_gases Halogenated_solvents Halomethanes Heating,_ventilating,_and_air_conditioning Ozone_depletion Refrigerants