AN INTEGRATED PROCESS FOR PRODUCING TRIFLUOROIODOMETHANE

1 . A process for producing trifluoroiodomethane (CF 3 I), the process comprising:

(a) providing a first reactant stream comprising hydrogen iodide (HI);

(b) reacting the first reactant stream with a second reactant stream comprising trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) to produce an intermediate product stream comprising trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI); and

(c) reacting the intermediate product stream to produce a final product stream comprising trifluoroiodomethane (CF 3 I).

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein hydrogen (H 2 ) and iodine (I 2 ) are reacted to produce the first reactant stream comprising hydrogen iodide (HI).

3 . The process of claim 2 , further comprising at least one of:

a temperature from about 150° C. to about 600° C.;

a pressure from about 0 psig to about 600 psig;

a mole ratio of hydrogen (H 2 ) to iodine (I 2 ) of about 1.0 to about 10.0; and

a catalyst.

4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the first product stream further comprises unreacted iodine (I 2 ) and unreacted hydrogen, both of which are recycled to the reaction step

5 . The process of claim 2 , wherein the process comprises a first catalyst, and the first catalyst comprises at least one catalyst selected from the group of nickel, nickel iodide (NiI 2 ), cobalt, iron, nickel oxide (NiO), cobalt oxide, and iron oxide, cobalt(II) iodide (CoI 2 ), iron(II) iodide (FeI 2 ), and iron(III) iodide (FeI 3 ).

6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the second reactant stream further comprises sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and the process further comprises, prior to step (b), the additional step of:

(i) removing sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) by forming an azeotrope or azeotrope-like composition of trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and feeding the composition into a distillation column; or

(ii) contacting a mixture of trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) with at least one solid adsorbent to remove sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) from the mixture of trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ).

7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein step (b) further comprises at least one of the following:

a temperature from about 25° C. to about 180° C.;

a pressure from about 0 to about 225 psig;

a mole ratio of trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) to hydrogen iodide (HI) from about 2.0:1.0 to about 0.02:1.0; and

a catalyst.

8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein, in step (b), the second reactant stream comprises:

a plurality of components wherein the sum of TFAC and HI comprises at least 99 wt. %;

sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) is present in an amount of not more than 250 ppm;

the sum of iodine and HI 3 is no more than 2000 ppm;

iodohydrocarbons comprising one or more of iodomethane, iodoethane, iodopropane, iodobutane, tert-butyl iodide, and diiodopropane are present in an amount of not more than 500 ppm;

hydrogen is present in an amount of not more than 500 ppm; and

CF 3 I is present in an amount of not more than 5000 ppm.

9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein step (b) further comprises a catalyst and the catalyst comprises at least one catalyst selected from the group of activated carbon and silica carbide.

10 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate product stream further comprises unreacted trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) and the process further comprises the additional steps of:

(i) separating unreacted trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) from the intermediate product stream; and

(ii) returning the separated trifluoroacetyl chloride to the reactant stream.

11 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate product stream further comprises at least one of trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC), hydrogen iodide (HI), hydrogen chloride (HCl), trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), trifluoroiodomethane (CF 3 I), an iodine-containing species and carbon monoxide (CO), and step (b) further comprises purifying the intermediate product stream to obtain a purified intermediate product stream having a concentration of trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI) of greater than about 99%.

12 . The process of claim 11 , wherein purifying the intermediate product stream further comprises:

(i) feeding the intermediate product stream into a first distillation column to obtain a first overhead stream comprising at least one of trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC), hydrogen iodide (HI), hydrogen chloride (HCl), trifluoroiodomethane (CF 3 I), and carbon monoxide (CO) and first a bottoms stream comprising trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI), trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), and iodine-containing species; and

(ii) feeding the first overhead stream to a second distillation column to obtain a second overhead stream comprising hydrogen chloride (HCl) and a second bottoms stream comprising hydrogen iodine (HI) and trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC).

13 . The process of claim 11 , wherein purifying the intermediate product stream further comprises:

(i) feeding the intermediate product stream into a first distillation column to obtain a first overhead stream comprising hydrogen chloride (HCl) and first a bottoms stream comprising trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI), hydrogen iodide (HI) and trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC); and

(ii) feeding the first bottoms stream to a second distillation column to obtain a second overhead stream comprising hydrogen iodide (HI) and trifluoroacetyl chloride (TFAC) and a second bottoms stream comprising trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI) wherein the second distillation column is operated at a pressure lower than a pressure of the first distillation column.

14 . The process of claim 11 , wherein purifying the intermediate product stream is carried out at a temperature lower than about 150° C.

15 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising removing at least one iodine-containing species from a stream comprising trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI) or trifluoroiodomethane (CF 3 I) by contacting the stream comprising trifluoroacetyl iodide (TFAI) or trifluoroiodomethane (CF 3 I) with carbonaceous materials to remove at least one of hydrogen iodide (HI), hydrogen triiodide (HI 3 ) and iodine (I 2 ) from the stream.