Patent ID: 8809580

Claim:
A method for preparing fluorinated carboxylic acids and their salts comprising subjecting a fluorinated alcohol of the general formula (A): A—CH 2 —OH to at least one first and at least one second oxidizing agent to produce a reaction mixture that comprises a highly fluorinated carboxylic acid or their salts of the general formula (B): A—COO − M + , wherein M + represents a cation and wherein A in formulas (A) and (B) is the same and A represents the residue: Rf—[O] p —CX″Y″—[O] m —CX′Y′—[O] n —CXY— wherein Rf represents a fluorinated alkyl residue which may or may not contain one or more catenary oxygen atoms, p, m and n are independently from each other either 1 or 0, X, X′, X″, Y, Y′ and Y″ are independently from each other H, F, CF 3 , or C 2 F 5 wherein at least one of X and Y is F, CF 3 , or C 2 F 5 ; or A represents the residue: R—CFX— wherein X and R are independently selected from a hydrogen, a halogen, or an alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, or aryl residue, which may or may not contain one or more fluorine atoms and which may or may not contain one or more catenary oxygen atoms; wherein said at least one first oxidizing agent is a compound that can be converted, by action of the second oxidizing agent, into a reactive species capable of oxidizing the fluorinated alcohol; and wherein the first oxidizing agent comprises no heavy atoms or ions and is a compound containing at least one N-oxyl.