1. Structures and properties of perfluorinated tags and phases

Although the physico-chemical properties (chemical and thermal stability, hydrophobicity, low coefficient of friction...) of perfluorinated polymers such as Teflon have been recognized and exploited since the 1950s for a variety of industrial and domestic applications, surprisingly the use of perfluorinated phases for catalysis and synthesis has only recently developed. In 1994, István Horváth and Josef Rábai first described in the journal Science the use of a perfluorocarbon (PFC)/hydrocarbon (HC) two-phase system to facilitate the separation and recycling of a catalyst . These two researchers, then working for Exxon, demonstrated...