AlBr3

Aluminum bromide · Aluminium tribromide

Aluminum bromide is a stable, insulating chemical compound widely used as a powerful catalyst in organic synthesis and industrial manufacturing.

AlBr
Crystal structure of AlBr3 (monoclinic, P21/c (No. 14))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Aluminum bromide

Aluminum bromide is a highly reactive, thermodynamically stable inorganic compound that exists as a wide-gap insulator. Its chemical behavior is defined by its strong Lewis acidity, making it a critical component in various industrial processes where halogenation or polymerization is required.

Due to its significant structural diversity and well-documented stability, this compound serves as a fundamental building block in chemical research. It is primarily utilized as a catalyst in organic synthesis, particularly in Friedel-Crafts reactions, where its electronic properties facilitate complex molecular transformations.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Aluminum bromide, aggregated across 5 databases.

Band Gap

4.10 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
3 DFT sources

Structures

27
5 databases, 12 space groups
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of AlBr3. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: medium

Hull Spread

0.000 eV
EAH spread across sources

Sources Compared

2
jarvis, materials_project

Space Group Consensus

All match
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for AlBr3, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
P21/c (No. 14)monoclinic4.100.0000-3.6823.14
P2/m (No. 10)Monoclinic3.15
P-6m2 (No. 187)
P-62m (No. 189)
C2221 (No. 20)Orthorhombic4.63
C2221 (No. 20)Orthorhombic3.20
C2221 (No. 20)Orthorhombic7.17
C2/c (No. 15)Monoclinic4.28
Cc (No. 9)Monoclinic3.54
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic5.64
P-1 (No. 2)Triclinic4.25
P-1 (No. 2)Triclinic5.34
Uses

Applications

Where Aluminum bromide is used.

Friedel-Crafts catalystOrganic synthesis reagentChemical intermediatePolymerization catalyst
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Aluminum bromide, answered from cross-validated data.

What is AlBr3?

Aluminum bromide is a stable, insulating chemical compound widely used as a powerful catalyst in organic synthesis and industrial manufacturing.

More questions
What is AlBr3 used for?
Aluminum bromide (AlBr3) is used in friedel-Crafts catalyst, organic synthesis reagent, chemical intermediate, and polymerization catalyst.
What is the band gap of AlBr3?
Aluminum bromide (AlBr3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 4.10 eV across 27 reported structures.
Is AlBr3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 4.10 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is AlBr3 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Aluminum bromide (AlBr3) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of AlBr3?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Aluminum bromide (AlBr3) is monoclinic symmetry, space group P21/c (No. 14).
What is the density of AlBr3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Aluminum bromide (AlBr3) is 3.14 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of AlBr3 are known?
27 structures of AlBr3 are reported across 5 databases, spanning 12 distinct space groups.
What elements does AlBr3 contain?
Aluminum bromide (AlBr3) contains Al and Br (2 elements).
Where does the data for AlBr3 come from?
AlBr3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis, omat24.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a prominent halide, aluminum bromide stands as a cornerstone of its chemical class, serving as a versatile and reliable reagent for synthetic chemistry. Its established stability and well-characterized structural profile make it a preferred choice for industrial applications requiring potent Lewis acid catalysis.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
  • omat24 — Data from OMat24 (Meta FAIR). Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv 2410.12771 (2024).

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