Find out how halogens are used in the manufacture of herbicides and polymers and environmental problems associated

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Find out how halogens are used in the manufacture of herbicides and polymers and environmental problems associated.

Organohalogen compounds are organic compounds that contain at least one halogen (fluorine [F], chlorine [Cl], bromine [Br], or iodine [I]) bonded to carbon. They are subdivided into alkyl, vinylic, aryl, and acyl halides. In alkyl halides all four bonds to the carbon that bears the halogen are single bonds; in vinylic halides the carbon that bears the halogen is doubly bonded to another carbon; in aryl halides the halogen-bearing carbon is part of an aromatic ring; and in acyl halides (also called acid halides) the halogen-bearing carbon is doubly bonded to oxygen.

Organohalogen compounds differ widely in chemical reactivity, depending on the halogen and the class to which they belong, and they may even differ within a class. A halogen substituent is considered a functional group, and the transformations of organohalogen compounds rank among the most important in organic chemistry. Many organohalogen compounds, especially organochlorine compounds, are important industrial chemicals; they are used as solvents and pesticides and as intermediates in the preparation of dyes, drugs, and synthetic polymers. More than 1,500 organohalogen compounds have been identified as naturally occurring materials