Trifluoroiodomethane, also referred to as trifluoromethyl iodide is a halomethane with the formula CF<sub>3</sub>I. It is an experimental alternative to Halon 1301 (CBrF<sub>3</sub>) in unoccupied areas. It would be used as a gaseous fire suppression flooding agent for in-flight aircraft and electronic equipment fires.
It is used in the rhodium-catalyzed ñ-trifluoromethylation of ñ,ò-unsaturated ketones.
It can be used as a new generation fire extinguishing agent to replace Halon in fire protection systems. The mechanism of extinguishing fires for CF<sub>3</sub>I is active and primarily based on interruption of the chain reaction in the combustion area of the flame by so-called "negative" catalytic action. It is also used as an eco-friendly insulation gas to replace SF<sub>6</sub> in electrical power industry.
In the presence of sunlight or at temperatures above 100 ðC it can react with water, forming hazardous by-products such as hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen iodide (HI) and carbonyl fluoride (COF<sub>2</sub>).
Trifluoroiodomethane contains carbon, fluorine, and iodine atoms. Although iodine is several hundred times more efficient at destroying stratospheric ozone than chlorine, experiments have shown that because the weak C-I bond breaks easily under the influence of water (owing to the electron-attracting fluorine atoms), trifluoroiodomethane has an ozone depleting potential less than one-thousandth that of Halon 1301 (0.008-0.01). Its atmospheric lifetime, at less than 1 month, is less than 1 percent that of Halon 1301, and less even than hydrogen chloride formed from volcanoes.
There is, however, still the problem of the C-F bonds absorbing in the atmospheric window. However, the IPCC has calculated the 100-year global warming potential of trifluoroiodomethane to be 0.4 (i.e., 40% of that of CO<sub>2</sub>).