Fluorine Chemistry in France
Résumé
Fluorine is an omnipresent chemical element in our everyday
life. The last two decades have witnessed a spectacular growth of
interest in selectively fluorinated molecular compounds. Nowadays,
several hundreds of thousands molecules contain at least one
fluorine atom. These molecules found essential applications in life
sciences, medicine, pharmacology, medical imaging, agricultural
chemistry, materials, etc. The manifold facets of fluorinated
biomaterials and drugs are illustrated by examples ranging from
inorganic ceramics to perfluorinated organic molecules. The
applications include neuroleptics, anti-cancer, antibiotics, PET
imaging for an early detection of tumors, etc. In the cornerstone
field of energy storage and conversion, fluorine constitutes a keyelement
because most devices devoted to the storage of the energy
(lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells) use fluoride materials as
electrodes, electrolytes containing a fluoride salt, fluoromembranes,
etc. Another illustration is the impact of this element in the
nuclear cycle via the synthesis of uranium hexafluoride which is an
unavoidable step toward uranium enrichment. Through these
examples, it is clear that whatever its state, fluorine has a
significant societal impact.