[5] CFC-113 can be prepared from hexachloroethane and hydrofluoric acid:[6] This reaction may require catalysts such as antimony, chromium, iron and alumina at high temperatures.

It remains in the atmosphere about 90 years,[9] sufficiently long that it will cycle out of the troposphere and into the stratosphere.

In the stratosphere, CFC-113 can be broken up by ultraviolet radiation (UV, sunlight in the 190-225 nm range), generating chlorine radicals (Cl•), which initiate degradation of ozone requiring only a few minutes:[10][11] This reaction is followed by: The process regenerates Cl• to destroy more O3.

Others from this series were Perklone (Tetrachloroethylene), Triklone (Trichloroethylene), Methoklone (Dichloromethane) and Genklene (1,1,1-Trichloroethane).

[18] Reduction of CFC-113 with zinc gives chlorotrifluoroethylene:[5] Aside from its immense environmental impacts, Freon 113, like most chlorofluoroalkanes, forms phosgene gas when exposed to a naked flame.