At standard ambient temperature and pressure, trifluoroperacetic acid is a colourless liquid with a boiling point of 162 °C.  It is soluble in acetonitrile, dichloromethane, diethyl ether, and sulfolane, and readily reacts with water. Like all peroxy acids, it is potentially explosive and requires careful handling. It is not commercially available, but can be made in the lab and stored for up to several weeks at −20 °C. Some preparative methods result in mixtures containing residual hydrogen peroxide and trifluoroacetic acid, and heating such a mixture is extremely hazardous; the hydrogen peroxide can be decomposed using manganese dioxide for safety before heating.