Journal article

One-Step HF-Free Synthesis of Alkali Metal Fluorides from Fluorspar

Abstract:: Alkali metal fluorides (MF) are commodity chemicals currently synthesized from naturally occurring fluorite (fluorspar, CaF2) in two steps: conversion of acid grade fluorspar (AGF) into highly hazardous hydrogen fluoride (HF) followed by neutralization with alkali metal hydroxides/carbonates. Herein, we report a one-step mechanochemical reaction that converts AGF into alkali metal fluorides under basic conditions, bypassing HF. The method consists of reacting AGF with alkali metal (hydr)oxides and titanium dioxide (TiO2) under mechanical energy for MF formation and in situ sequestration of calcium (hydr)oxide byproducts as calcium titanate (CaTiO3). Ca2+ sequestration prevents reversible CaF2 formation upon aqueous extraction, thus enabling the isolation of alkali metal fluorides. We also demonstrate that alkali metal titanates (M2TiO3) are suitable reagents for both CaF2 activation and Ca2+ sequestration, with K2TiO3 being optimal for KF synthesis.

Publication status:: Published

Peer review status:: Peer reviewed

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APA Style

Schlatzer, T., Goult, C. A., Hayward, M. A., & Gouverneur, V. (2025). One-Step HF-Free Synthesis of Alkali Metal Fluorides from Fluorspar. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147(8), 6338–6342.

MLA Style

Schlatzer, T, et al. “One-Step HF-Free Synthesis of Alkali Metal Fluorides from Fluorspar.” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 147, no. 8, 2025, pp. 6338–42.

Chicago Style

Schlatzer, T, CA Goult, MA Hayward, and V Gouverneur. 2025. “One-Step HF-Free Synthesis of Alkali Metal Fluorides from Fluorspar.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 147 (8): 6338–42.
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Files:: Schlatzer_et_al_2025_One-Step_HF-Free_Synthesis.pdf

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Publisher copy:: 10.1021/jacs.4c16608

Authors

+ Schlatzer, T More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: MPLS
Department:: Chemistry
Sub department:: Chemistry Research Laboratory
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0001-5034-0968

+ Goult, CA More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: MPLS
Department:: Chemistry
Sub department:: Chemistry Research Laboratory
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0002-5834-8371

+ Hayward, MA More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: MPLS
Department:: Chemistry
Sub department:: Chemistry
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0002-6248-2063

+ Gouverneur, V More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: MPLS
Department:: Chemistry
Sub department:: Chemistry Research Laboratory
Role:: Author
ORCID:: 0000-0001-8638-5308

Publisher:: American Chemical Society
Journal:: Journal of the American Chemical Society More from this journal
Volume:: 147
Issue:: 8
Pages:: 6338-6342
Publication date:: 2025-02-18
Acceptance date:: 2025-02-13
DOI:: 10.1021/jacs.4c16608
EISSN:: 1520-5126
ISSN:: 0002-7863

Language:: English
Pubs id:: 2091212
Local pid:: pubs:2091212
Source identifiers:: 2720216
Deposit date:: 2025-02-27
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_8326ebe809d540aba06868b783c68e9c

Terms of use

Copyright date:: 2025

Licence:: CC Attribution (CC BY)

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