Halocarbons

Halocarbons
Halocarbon, any chemical compound of the element carbon and one or more of the halogens (bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine); two important subclasses of halocarbons are the chlorocarbons, containing only carbon and chlorine, and the fluorocarbons, containing only carbon and fluorine. Examples of chlorocarbons are carbon tetrachloride and tetrachloroethylene; the best known fluorocarbon is the resin polytetrafluoroethylene, called Teflon. Several, but not all, of the Freons are halocarbons, as is the resin polychlorotrifluoroethylene (Kel-F). The nonflammability, low chemical reactivity, and low toxicity of many of the halocarbons are their most valuable properties.

Organic molecules containing functional groups are given IUPAC names based on their main-chain allane structures. The prefixes are formed by changing the -ine at the end of each halogen name to -o. Thus, the prefix for fluorine is fluoro-, chlorine is chloro-, bromine is bromo-, and iodine is iodo-.