Metal chlorination and oxide carbochlorination

Direct chlorination of metals or carbochlorination of oxides is far less important than organic chlorination (see separate articles in this treatise).

Direct chlorination of metals mainly involves Al, Fe, Ti and Sb to obtain the corresponding anhydrous chlorides. Carbochlorination of oxides is industrially limited to rutile to obtain TiO ₂ via T iCl ₄ , zircon to obtain Zr via ZrCl ₄ and alumina to obtain AlCl ₃ . In the years 1975-1985, the carbochlorination of oxides, in particular kaolin and alumina, was much studied especially in the USA. The idea was to use the electrolysis of AlCl ₃ to obtain aluminum, a route that would save energy while avoiding dependence on bauxite-supplying countries. Economic conditions having evolved, and probably faced with the difficulties of extrapolating this process to a large scale, it was not industrialized.