Perfluorohexanes

colourless liquid

Perfluorohexanes is used as a coolant, photosensitizer in fluorous biphasic singlet oxygenation and an inert reaction medium. It is used in the electronic cooling liquid and insulator. It plays a vital role as a reaction medium, especially for photooxidation reactions. Further, it finds application as an ultrasound contrast agent.

Perfluorohexane uses and applications include: dispersant for lubricants, mold release agents, protective coatings; reaction media for polymerizations, purification, separation processes; solvent for removal of halogenated lubricants, oils, greases; carrier for halogenated material; for quick-cooling or freezing foods; heat-transfer fluid.
Because it is biologically inert and chemically stable, perfluorohexane has attracted attention in medicine. Like other fluorocarbons, perfluorohexane dissolves gases, including oxygen from the air, to a higher concentration than ordinary organic solvents. This effect is attributed to the weak intermolecular forces between perfluorohexane molecules, which allows "space" for gas molecules to partition into the liquid. Animals can be submerged in a bath of perfluorohexane without drowning, as there is sufficient oxygen available in the solvent to allow respiration to continue. This effect has led to the experimental use of perfluorohexane in treating burn victims, as their lungs can be filled with either perfluorohexane vapor or in extreme cases liquid perfluorohexane, allowing breathing to continue without the problems normally seen with pulmonary edema that sometimes occur when the inside of the lungs have been burnt e.g. by inhalation of hot smoke.

Tetradecafluorohexane in the gas phase reacts spontaneously with lithium amalgam, to give a solid and intimate mixture of lithium fluoride and elemental polymeric carbon with a small amount of superstoichiometric lithium.

Purify the fluorohexane by fractional freezing. The methods described for perfluoroheptane should be applicable here. [Beilstein 1 IV 348.]