Halogenated organic pollutants (HOPs) are causing a significant environmental and human health crisis due to their high levels of toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation. Urgent action is required to develop effective approaches for the reduction and reuse of HOPs. Whereas current strategies focus primarily on the degradation of HOPs, repurposing them is an alternative approach, albeit a challenging task. Here we discover that alkyl bromide can act as a catalyst for the transfer of chlorine using alkyl chloride as the chlorine source. We demonstrate that this approach has a wide substrate scope, and we successfully apply it to reuse HOPs that include dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, hexabromocyclododecane, chlorinated paraffins, chloromethyl polystyrene and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Moreover, we show that the synthesis of essential non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be achieved using PVC and hexabromocyclododecane, and we demonstrate that PVC waste can be used directly as a chlorinating agent. Overall, this methodology offers a promising strategy for repurposing HOPs.

卤化有机污染物（HOP）由于其高毒性、持久性和生物累积性，正在造成严重的环境和人类健康危机。需要采取紧急行动来制定减少和再利用 HOP 的有效方法。虽然目前的策略主要集中在 HOP 的降解上，但重新利用它们是一种替代方法，尽管这是一项具有挑战性的任务。在这里，我们发现烷基溴可以作为使用烷基氯作为氯源的氯转移的催化剂。我们证明这种方法具有广泛的底物范围，并成功地将其应用于重复使用 HOP，包括二氯二苯基三氯乙烷、六溴环十二烷、氯化石蜡、氯甲基聚苯乙烯和聚氯乙烯 (PVC)。此外，我们还表明，使用PVC和六溴环十二烷可以合成必需的非甾体抗炎药，并且我们证明PVC废料可以直接用作氯化剂。总体而言，这种方法为重新利用 HOP 提供了一种有前景的策略。