Chloromethane was first synthesized by the French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot in 1835 by boiling a mixture of methanol, sulfuric acid, and sodium chloride.  This method is the forerunner for that used today, which uses hydrogen chloride instead of sulfuric acid and sodium chloride.
Chloromethane is produced commercially by treating methanol with hydrochloric acid or hydrogen chloride, according to the chemical equation:
: CHOH + HCl  →  CHCl + HO
A smaller amount of chloromethane is produced by treating a mixture of methane with chlorine at elevated temperatures.  This method, however, also produces more highly chlorinated compounds such as dichloromethane, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride.  For this reason, methane chlorination is usually only practiced when these other products are also desired.  This chlorination method also cogenerates hydrogen chloride, which poses a disposal problem.
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