Molybdenum(III) bromide is the

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

with the formula MoBr₃. It is a black solid that is insoluble in most solvents but dissolves in donor solvents such as pyridine.

Preparation

Molybdenum(III) bromide is produced by the reaction of elemental

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...

and

bromine Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...

at .F. Hein, S. Herzog "Molybdenum(III) Bromide" in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry, 2nd Ed. Edited by G. Brauer, Academic Press, 1963, NY. Vol. 1. p. 1407. :

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It can also be prepared from the reduction of molybdenum(IV) bromide with molybdenum metal,

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

gas, or a

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

. It has a structure consisting of infinite chains of face-sharing octahedra with alternatingly short and long Mo-Mo contacts. The same structure is adopted by the tribromides of ruthenium and technetium.Dietrich Babel: ''Die Verfeinerung der MoBr₃-Struktur (Refinement of the MoBr₃-Structure)'' In: '' Journal of Solid State Chemistry.'' 1972, volume 4, S. 410–416, .Order-Disorder Transformation in RuBr₃ and MoBr₃: A two-Dimensional Ising Model" Merlino, S.; Labella, L.; Marchetti, F.; Toscani, S. Chemistry of Materials 2004, volume 16, p3895-p3903 In contrast, in the high temperature phase of titanium(III) iodide, the Ti---Ti separation is invariant.

References

{{bromides Bromides Molybdenum halides Molybdenum(III) compounds