Chlorofluorocarbons Tyler Jensen, Mackenzie Latimer, Jessie Luther, Jake McGhee, Adeeb Noorani, Tyla Penner, & Maddy Springle 1.1: A Brief History of Chlorofluorocarbons Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), also known as Freons, were first synthesized in 1928 by Thomas Midgley Jr, who was working for General Motors trying to find a safe refrigerant to use in commercial applications. (Rosenbaum, n.d.). They are an anthropogenic compound containing fluorine, carbon, and chlorine atoms, and are classified as halocarbons. CFCs are a family of chemicals based upon hydrocarbon skeletons, where most hydrogens have been replaced with chlorine and/or fluorine atoms. They are chemically stable freons that are non-flammable, tasteless and odourless. CFCs are very volatile, which makes for ideal refrigerant gases, having a boiling point close to zero degrees (Rosenbaum, n.d) They were originally created to replace the toxic gases used in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Examples of the toxic gase...