This knowledge led to the development of new thermally stable synthetic oils based on hydrocarbon esters which do not have β-hydrogens in the alkoxy group. 2 Perfluorinated esters, which do not have hydrogen atoms to cause the above-mentioned intramolecular reactions, can also be considered to be thermally stable. In this Communication, we wish to report that certain perfluoroesters do decompose at elevated temperatures in a fashion ...