Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (CAS 1493-13-6) is a colorless to pale yellow, hygroscopic liquid with a pungent odor and high thermal stability; it has a boiling point of approximately 162 °C at 760 mmHg and is non-volatile under ambient conditions. It is classified as a superacid and a fluorinated organic sulfonic acid. Primarily employed as a powerful, non-oxidizing Brønsted acid catalyst, it facilitates key transformations—including Friedel–Crafts acylations, esterifications, and alkylations—in fine chemical synthesis. Its main industrial applications are in the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and specialty polymers, where it serves as a critical reagent for introducing triflate (–OTf) groups or enabling acid-catalyzed cyclizations and rearrangements.

It is used for organic synthesis, widely used in pharmaceutical and chemical industries, such as nucleosides, antibiotics, steroids, protein, sugar, vitamins synthesis, silicone rubber modification. Isomerization and alkylation of the catalyst, the preparation of 2, 3-dihydro-2-indanone, tetralone, glycosides in the removal of glycoproteins.
Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid is a hygroscopic, colorless liquid at room temperature. It is soluble in polar solvents such as dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), acetonitrile, and dimethyl sulfone. Addition of triflic acid to polar solvents can be dangerously exothermic.Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid is widely used especially as a catalyst and a precursor in organic chemistry. With an Ka = 8. 0 1014 (pKa ~ -15) mol/kg, HOTf qualifies as a superacid. Triflic acid owes many of its useful properties to its great thermal and chemical stability. Both the acid and its conjugate base CF3SO3-, known as triflate, resist oxidation/reduction reactions, whereas many strong acids are oxidizing, e. g. HClO4 and HNO3. The triflate anion is immune to attack by even strong nucleophiles. Because of its resistance to oxidation and reduction, triflic acid is a very useful and versatile reagent. Further recommending its use, triflic acid does not sulfonate substrates, which can be a problem with sulfuric acid, fluorosulfuric acid, and chlorosulfonic acid. Below is a prototypical sulfonation, which HOTf does not undergo: C6H6 + H2SO4 → C6H5(SO3H) + H2O.

This chemical is included in Fine Chemicals. See more about what is Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid SDS information.

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