Nitric Acid → Propane, 1,2-dichloro-2-fluoro-3-nitro-

To a mixture of 86 ml of anhydrous, 100% strength nitric acid and 300 ml of anhydrous hydrofluoric acid were added dropwise at -10° C. in the course of 3 hours 111 g (1 mol) of 2,3-dichloropropene. The reaction was slightly exothermic. After the dropwise addition had ceased, stirring was continued for a further 1 hour at -10° C. Then the mixture was poured on to ice and extracted using dichloromethane. The organic phase was washed with sodium hydrogencarbonate solution, dried over sodium sulphate and concentrated using a rotary evaporator. The crude product was distilled under an oil pump vacuum. This gave 115.8 g (=63% of theory) of product having a boiling point of 48° to 50° C. at 0.07 mbar and a Refractive Index nD20 of 1.4578 (at 24° C.). The product was 95.7% pure.