Haloform reaction

In chemistry, the haloform reaction (also referred to as the Lieben haloform reaction) is a chemical reaction in which a haloform (CHX₃, where X is a halogen) is produced by the exhaustive halogenation of an acetyl group (R−C(=O)CH₃, where R can be either a hydrogen atom, an alkyl or an aryl group), in the presence of a base. The reaction can be used to transform acetyl groups into carboxyl groups (R−C(=O)OH) or to produce chloroform (CHCl₃), bromoform (CHBr₃), or iodoform (CHI₃). Note that fluoroform (CHF₃) can't be prepared in this way.