Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pervasive in the
environment.
The largest single use material within the PFAS compound class is
poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), a robust and chemically resistant
polymer. Despite their widespread use and serious concerns about their
role as pollutants, methods for repurposing PFAS are rare. Here we
show that a nucleophilic magnesium reagent reacts with PTFE at room
temperature, generating a molecular magnesium fluoride which is easily
separated from the surface-modified polymer. The fluoride in turn
can be used to transfer the fluorine atoms to a small array of compounds.
This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that the atomic fluorine
content of PTFE can be harvested and reused in chemical synthesis.