Process for producing 5-fluorouracil

摘要

A process for producing 5-fluorouracil using an aqueous phosphoric acid solution as a solvent which is a good solvent for an intermediate resulting from the reaction between uracil and elemental fluorine, and permits the reaction to proceed smoothly, but which can precipitate the final product, 5-fluorouracil, after cooling the heat-treated reaction solution to room temperature, with no need to evaporate the solvent. The process comprises reacting uracil in an aqueous phosphoric acid solution with elemental fluorine and heating the resultant reaction solution to form 5-fluorouracil.