Niobium(V) bromide is the inorganic compound with the formula Nb2Br10. Its name comes from the compound's empirical formula, NbBr5. It is a diamagnetic, orange solid that hydrolyses readily. The compound adopts an edge-shared bioctahedral structure, which means that two NbBr5 units are joined by a pair of bromide bridges. There is no bond between the Nb centres. Niobium(V) chloride, niobium(V) iodide, tantalum(V) chloride, tantalum(V) bromide, and tantalum(V) iodide all share this structural motif.
Synthesis
Niobium(V) bromide can be prepared by the reaction of bromine with niobium metal at 230-250 °C in a tube furnace. It can also be produced from the more accessible oxide by metathesis using aluminium tribromide:3
Nb2O5 + 3.3 AlBr3 → 2 NbBr5 + 3.3 Al2O3A challenge with the latter method is the occurrence of NbOBr3 as an impurity.
External links
References
Greenwood, N. N.; & Earnshaw, A. (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd Edn.), Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-3365-4. /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩
Hönle, Wolfgang; Furuseth, Sigrid; Schnering, Hans Georg von (1990). "Synthesis and Crystal Structure of Ordered, Orthorhombic α-NbBr5". Zeitschrift für Naturforschung B. 45 (7): 952–956. doi:10.1515/znb-1990-0706. S2CID 98293250. https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fznb-1990-0706 ↩
G. Brauer (1963). "Niobium(V) and Tantalum(V) Bromides". In G. Brauer (ed.). Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry, 2nd Ed. Vol. 1. NY, NY: Academic Press. p. 1311. ↩