Tantalum(V) bromide
Tantalum bromide is the inorganic compound with the formula. Its name comes from the compound's empirical formula,. It is a diamagnetic, yellow solid that hydrolyses readily. The compound adopts an edge-shared bioctahedral structure, which means that two units are joined by a pair of bromide bridges. There is no bond between the Ta centres. Niobium(V) chloride, niobium(V) bromide, niobium(V) iodide, tantalum(V) chloride, and tantalum(V) iodide all share this structural motif.
Preparation and handling
The material is usually prepared by the reaction of bromine with tantalum metal at elevated temperatures in a tube furnace. The bromides of the early metals are sometimes preferred to the chlorides because of the relative ease of handling liquid bromine vs gaseous chlorine. Like other molecular halides, it is soluble in nonpolar solvents such as carbon tetrachloride, but it reacts with some solvents.It can also be produced from the more accessible oxide by metathesis using aluminium tribromide:
Carbothermal reduction of the oxide in the presence of bromine has also been employed, the byproduct being [Carbonyl bromide|].