Titanium(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 TiBr₃. It is a blue black paramagnetic solid with a reddish reflection. It has few applications, although it is a catalyst for the polymerization of alkenes.

Production and structure

TiBr₃ can be produced by heating the tetrabromide in an atmosphere of

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 ...

: :2TiBr₄ + H₂ → 2TiBr₃ + 2HBr It can also be produced by

comproportionation Comproportionation or symproportionation is a chemical reaction where two reactants containing the same element but with different oxidation numbers, form a compound having an intermediate oxidation number. It is the opposite of disproportionatio ...

of titanium metal and titanium tetrabromide. :Ti + 3TiBr₄ → 4TiBr₃ Two polymorphs of TiBr₃ are known, each exhibiting octahedral Ti centers.Troyanov, S. I.; Rybakov, V. B.; Ionov, V. M. "Preparation and crystal structure of titanium tetrabromide, titanium tribromide and titanium(2+) tetrabromoaluminate(1-)" Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii 1990, vol. 35, 882-7.

Reactions

Heating the tribromide gives titanium(II) bromide together with the volatile tetrabromide: :2 TiBr₃ → TiBr₄ + TiBr₂ The solid dissolves in donor solvents (L) such as pyridine and nitriles to produce 3:1 adducts: :TiBr₃ + 3 L → TiBr₃L₃

References

{{inorganic bromides Bromides Titanium(III) compounds Titanium halides