Triflic acid
Triflic acid is a chemical compound related to sulfuric acid. Because it is a stronger acid than pure sulfuric acid, it is called a superacid. Triflic acid is one of the most used superacids, mostly as a catalyst. Salts of triflic acid are called triflates.
It is also known by the systematic name trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. The chemical formula of triflic acid is written CF
3SO
3H, but is also often abbreviated as TfOH, where Tf is the functional group CF
3SO
2–, called triflyl.
It is a sulfonic acid, meaning one of the pairs of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in sulfuric acid has been replaced with a carbon atom. In triflic acid, this carbon atom is connected to three fluorine atoms, which makes a functional group called trifluoromethyl.