Bromine trifluoride

Bromine trifluoride was first described by Paul Lebeau in 1906, who obtained the material by the reaction of bromine with fluorine at 20 °C: : The disproportionation of bromine monofluoride also gives bromine trifluoride: : ==Structure==

Like ClF3 and IF3, the BrF3 molecule is T-shaped and planar. In the VSEPR formalism, the bromine center is assigned two electron lone pairs. The distance from the bromine atom to each axial fluorine atom is 1.81 Å and to the equatorial fluorine atom is 1.72 Å. The angle between an axial fluorine atom and the equatorial fluorine atom is slightly smaller than 90° — the 86.2° angle observed is due to the repulsion generated by the electron pairs being greater than that of the Br-F bonds. ==Chemical properties==

In a highly exothermic reaction, BrF3 reacts with water to form hydrobromic acid and hydrofluoric acid: : BrF3 is a fluorinating agent, but less reactive than ClF3. Already at −196 °C, it reacts with acetonitrile to give 1,1,1-trifluoroethane. : + Br2 + N2 The liquid is conducting, owing to autoionisation: : ==References==