Process for producing fluorinated alcohol

摘要

A method for producing fluorinated alcohols from fluorinated alkyl halides can produce fluorinated alcohols at high product yield and at high selectivity in a single-step reaction. The method eliminates the need to use heavy metals and other toxic compounds that are difficult to handle or process. Specifically, the method produces a fluorinated alcohol represented by the following general formula (2): Rf(A)OH (2) wherein Rf represents a perfluoroalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; and A represents a straight-chained or branched saturated hydrocarbon group having 3 to 10 carbon atoms. The method is characterized in that it allows a fluorinated alkyl halide represented by the following general formula (1) to react with an alkali metal salt of 4-hydroxybutyrate in a gamma-butyrolactone solvent: Rf(A)X (1) wherein Rf and A are as defined above; and X represents a halogen atom.