Patent ID: 8110713

Claim:
A process for producing pentafluoroethane comprising the steps of: (i) reacting perchloroethylene with hydrofluoric acid (HF) in the gas phase and in the presence of a first fluorination catalyst (ii) separating the products derived from step (i) to yield a fraction (A) of light products comprising hydrochloric acid and pentafluoroethane, and a fraction (B) of heavy products comprising unreacted hydrofluoric acid, unreacted perchloroethylene, and at least one compound comprising trichlorodifluoroethane or olefinic compounds; (iii) reacting fraction (B) with hydrofluoric acid (HF) in the presence of a second fluorination catalyst at a temperature ranging from 280 to 400° C. prior to recycling the products of step (iii) to step (i), wherein the HF/organic compounds molar ratio in step (iii) ranges from 30 to 150.