Dear netters:
Fluorine has been observed to leave perfluoropolyethers
(especially the -O-CF2-O- group) as the anion. A Lewis acid
(electron pair acceptor) can act as the receptor, but a
metal with a high coordination number is also capable of
abstracting the anion, through what has been described as a
nucleophilic mechanism.
My question is: why doesn't fluorine leave as an atomic species, e.g.,
-CX2-CX2- + 2Zn = alkyne + 2ZnX2
Pat Hogue