A special numbering system is to be used for fluorinated alkanes, prefixed with Freon-, R-, CFC- and HCFC-, where the rightmost value indicates the number of fluorine atoms, the next value to the left is the number of hydrogen atoms plus 1, and the next value to the left is the number of carbon atoms less one (zeroes are not stated), and the remaining atoms are chlorine.
Freon-12, for example, indicates a methane derivative (only two numbers) containing two fluorine atoms (the second 2) and no hydrogen (1-1=0). It is therefore CClF.
Another equation that can be applied to get the correct molecular formula of the CFC/R/Freon class compounds is to take the numbering and add 90 to it. The resulting value will give the number of carbons as the first numeral, the second numeral gives the number of hydrogen atoms, and the third numeral gives the number of fluorine atoms. The rest of the unaccounted carbon bonds are occupied by chlorine atoms. The value of this equation is always a three figure number. An easy example is that of CFC-12, which gives: 90+12=102 -> 1 carbon, 0 hydrogens, 2 fluorine atoms, and hence 2 chlorine atoms resulting in CClF. The main advantage of this method of deducing the molecular composition in comparison with the method described in the paragraph above is that it gives the number of carbon atoms of the molecule.
Freons containing bromine are signified by four numbers. Isomers, which are common for ethane and propane derivatives, are indicated by letters following the numbers: