Catalytic Hydrogen-Chlorine Exchange between Chlorinated Hydrocarbons under Oxygen-Free Conditions

Pass the parcel: Activity experiments show that LaCl3 supported on carbon nanofibers is a highly active, selective, and stable catalyst for the H–Cl exchange reaction between CCl4 and CH2Cl2 to form CHCl3 (see scheme) in the absence of either lattice or gas‐phase oxygen. Density functional calculations suggest that the reaction proceeds through the formation of weakly adsorbed Cl and H species which can be exchanged between the reactants.