Method for producing a fluorine-containing compound

1. A method for producing a fluorine-containing compound, which comprises reacting the following compound (1) with the following compound (2) to produce the following compound (3) (provided that the compound (3) is a compound having a fluorine content of at least 30 mass % and has a hydrogen atom or an unsaturated bond which can be fluorinated), fluorinating the compound (3) in a liquid phase to produce the following compound (4), followed by a cleavage reaction of E F of the compound (4) to obtain a compound (5) and/or a compound (6):

E 1 -R A -E 1   (1)

E 2 -R B   (2)

R B -E-R A -E-R B   (3)

R BF -E F -R AF -E F -R BF   (4)

E F1 -R AF -E F1   (5)

R BF -E F2   (6)

wherein

R A , R B : R A is a fluorine-containing bivalent organic group which is the same as R AF , or a bivalent organic group which will be converted to R AF by a fluorination reaction, and R B is a monovalent organic group which is the same as R BF , or a monovalent organic group which will be converted to R BF by a fluorination reaction,

R AF , R BF : R AF is a fluorine-containing bivalent organic group which is the same as or different from R A , and when different, it is a group having R A fluorinated, and R BF is a fluorine-containing monovalent organic group which is the same as or different from R B , and when different, it is a group having R B fluorinated,

E 1 , E 2 : reactive groups which will react to each other to form a bivalent connecting group (E),

E: a bivalent connecting group formed by the reaction of E 1 and E 2 ,

E F : a group which is the same as E, or a group having E fluorinated, provided that at least one selected from R AF , R BF and E F , is a group formed by a fluorination reaction, and

E F1 , E F2 : each independently is a group formed by cleavage of E F .

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the compound (1) is the following compound (1-1), the compound (2) is the following compound (2-1), the compound (3) is the following compound (3-1), the compound (4) is the following compound (4-1), the cleavage reaction of E F is a reaction to cleave the ester bond of the compound (4-1), the compound (5) is the following compound (5-1), and the compound (6) is the following compound (6-1):

HOCH 2 —R A —CH 2 OH  (1-1)

XCOR B   (2-1)

R B COOCH 2 —R A —CH 2 OCOR B   (3-1)

R BF COOCF 2 —R AF —CF 2 OCOR BF   (4-1)

FCO—R AF —COF  (5-1)

R BF —COF  (6-1)

wherein

R A , R B , R AF and R BF : as defined above, and

X: a halogen atom.

3. The method according to claim 2 , which further comprises

reacting compound (6-1) with compound (1-1) to obtain compound (3-1).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the compound (1) is the following compound (1-2), the compound (2) is the following compound (2-1), the compound (3) is the following compound (3-2), the compound (4) is the following compound (4-2), the cleavage reaction of E F is a reaction to cleave the ester bond of the compound (4-2), the compound (5) is the following compound (5-2), and the compound (6) is the following compound (6-1):

HOCH 2 -Q 1 -R A -Q 2 -CH 2 OH  (1-2)

XCOR B   (2-1)

R B COOCH 2 -Q 1 -R A -Q 2 -CH 2 OCOR B   (3-2)

R BF COOCF 2 -Q F1 -R AF -Q F2 -CF 2 OCOR BF   (4-2)

FCO-Q F1 -R AF -Q F2 -COF  (5-2)

R BF —COF  (6-1)

wherein

R A , R B , R AF and R BF : as defined above,

X: a halogen atom,

Q 1 , Q 2 : they may be the same or different, and each represents —CH(CH 3 )— or —CH 2 CH 2 —, and

Q F1 , Q F2 : Q F1 is a group which corresponds to Q 1 , and Q F2 is a group which corresponds to Q 2 , and each represents —CF(CF 3 )— or —CF 2 CF 2 —.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the compound (5-2) is pyrolyzed to produce the following compound (7-2):

CF 2 ═CF—R AF —CF═CF 2   (7-2)

wherein R AF is as defined above.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon number of R BF is from 2 to 20.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the compound (1) has a fluorine content of 0 mass % and a molecular weight of not more than 200, and the compound (3) has a fluorine content of from 30 to 76 mass % and a molecular weight of more than 200 and not more than 1,000.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorination in the liquid phase is carried out by fluorination with fluorine in a solvent.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein compound (1) is selected from the group consisting of HO(CH 2 ) n OH, HO(CH 2 CH(CH 3 )O) m (CH 2 ) p OH, and HO(CH 2 CH 2 O) k (CH 2 ) r OH;

wherein n ranges from 4 to 10, m ranges from 1 to 10, p ranges from 3 to 5, k ranges from 1 to 10, and r ranges from 3 to 5.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase comprises a solvent present in an amount that ranges from 10 to 100 times by mass based on the amount of compound (3).

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase comprises fluorine (F 2 ) and the mole ratio of F 2 to compound (3) is at least 1.1.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase comprises fluorine (F 2 ) and the mole ratio of F 2 to compound (3) is at least 1.5.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said fluorinating occurs at a temperature that ranges from −50° C. to +100° C.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said fluorinating occurs at a temperature that ranges from −20° C. to +50° C.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid phase comprises an organic hydrocarbon.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cleavage reaction occurs by reacting compound (4-1) with a nucleophilic agent or an electrophilic agent in a liquid phase.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cleavage reaction occurs by reacting compound (4-1) with a nucleophilic agent or an electrophilic agent in the absence of solvent.

18. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the cleavage reaction occurs by reacting compound (4-1) with a nucleophilic agent in the absence of solvent.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the nucleophilic agent is selected from the group consisting of NaF, NaHF 2 , KF, CsF, and mixtures thereof.

20. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the nucleophilic agent is NaF.

21. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the compound of the formula (3) is from 200 to 1,000.

22. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon number of R B is from 2 to 10.

23. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon number of R B is from 4 to 10.