Difluorinate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To add two fluorine atoms to a chemical compound or molecule
2. To incorporate two fluorine substituents into the structure of an organic or inorganic substance
3. To treat a compound by attaching two fluorine atoms to its molecular framework

Etymology: Fluorine takes its name from the Latin "fluere," meaning "to flow." Miners and metalworkers used the mineral fluorspar as a flux, a substance that helps ores melt, so the element was named after the mineral's behavior in the furnace. Chemists then built a family of terms on "fluorine," and "difluorinate" belongs to that family. The word is a technical coinage made from three parts. The prefix "di-" comes from Greek "dis," meaning "twice" or "two," and the verb ending "-ate" is the common chemical suffix for turning a noun into a verb of action. Together they describe adding two fluorine atoms to a molecule, a process chemists use when designing compounds for pharmaceuticals and other specialized materials.