fluorine chemistry Group

Who we are - What we do

Fluorine plays a more prominent role than any other element in many areas of chemistry, life sciences, technology, industry, and modern life. Fluorine reacts with almost every element, and in principle, fluorine atoms can be incorporated into any organic molecule, making it the element with the most compounds. When H or OH is replaced with F in organic molecules, the bond energies and bond polarizations, and thus the properties, change significantly. Synthetic fluoroorganics are therefore becoming increasingly important in pharmaceutical active ingredients, crop protection agents, lubricants, and corrosion inhibitors, dyes, liquid crystals, surfactants, ionic liquids, blood substitutes, and so on. The most thermally and chemically stable polymers are fluoropolymers and their derivatives. Ionomers such as Nafion are of great importance in fuel cells and electrolytes. Low-molecular-weight CHF compounds are also produced on a scale of millions of tons as substitutes for CFRPs and are used as refrigerants, propellants, fire retardants, and solvents. Without SF6 as an insulating gas, modern high-voltage and power engineering would be unthinkable; even the production of semiconductor chips is impossible without high-purity hydrofluoric acid and fluorine-containing plasma etching gases. Graphite fluoride and electrolytes with fluorinated anions are important components in electrochemical energy storage devices.

Shortlink to this page: www.gdch.de/fluorchemie

External homepage

As the above examples demonstrate, fluorine chemistry is an interdisciplinary science with links to existing Divisions within the GDCh. There are overlaps with, for example, electrochemistry (electrofluorination, electrochemical energy storage), magnetic resonance ( 19 F NMR spectroscopy), solid-state chemistry and materials research (complex fluorides, fluorine glasses), and medicinal chemistry (fluorinated drugs, 18 F positron emission tomography), to name just a few.

For this reason, the GDCh Board approved the formation of a Working Group Fluorochemistry under the umbrella of the GDCh in 2008. Details are contained in the bylaws .

Board 2025 - 2026

 

Dr. Michael Rack, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Deputy)

Prof. Dr. Florian Kraus, University of Marburg (Treasurer)

Prof. Dr. Ryan Gilmour, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster (secretary)

Prof. Dr. Udo Radius, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg

Publication Award Fluorine Chemistry

The fluorine chemistry Working Group of the German Chemical Society awards the "Publication Award Fluorine Chemistry" every two years. The prize is presented at a symposium.

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21st German Fluoride Day 2026

14.-16.09., Schmitten im Taunus

Dates

27 th Winter Fluorine Conference (05.-10.01., Clearwater Beach Florida/USA)

PFAS conference (07.-08.04., Berlin/D)

21 th European Symposium on Fluorine Chemistry 2025 (03.-09.08., Lisbon/PT)

Summer School fluorine chemistry (October 6th - 8th, Berlin/D)

Prices

Publication Award Fluorine Chemistry
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Berlin young talent award for fluorine chemistry
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Downloads

Flyers
bylaws

contact

GDCh Office
Dipl.-Biol. Nicole Bürger
+49 69 7917-231
n.buerger@gdch.de

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last modified: 04.06.2025 13:29 H from Translator