Oxychlorination
Chlorination and oxychlorination of aliphatic compounds

Oxychlorination uses hydrochloric acid or metal chlorides as chlorinating agents, and O₂ , Ca(OCl)₂ , SO₃ or H₂O₂ as oxidizing agents. Oxychlorination can be carried out electrolytically at low temperatures.

Industrially, only high-temperature chlorination using the HCl-oxygen couple (pure or air) is practised, enabling the by-product HCl to be recovered in substitutive chlorination processes. Sometimes chlorination and oxychlorination are carried out simultaneously, using hydrocarbon, chlorine and oxygen.

Selectivity depends on the nature of the substrate to be chlorinated and the operating conditions, the main secondary reaction being hydrocarbon oxidation which can lead to the formation of CO₂ .