BrF5

Bromine pentafluoride · Bromine(V) fluoride

Bromine pentafluoride is a stable, highly reactive interhalogen compound primarily utilized as a powerful fluorinating agent and oxidizer.

BrF
Crystal structure of BrF5 (orthorhombic, Cmc21 (No. 36))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Bromine pentafluoride

Bromine pentafluoride is a potent interhalogen compound characterized by its insulating electronic nature. As a thermodynamically stable species situated on the convex hull, it represents a robust chemical configuration within the halogen-fluoride family.

This compound is widely recognized for its high reactivity, making it a critical reagent in industrial and laboratory settings. Its ability to serve as a powerful fluorinating agent and oxidizer stems from the distinct chemical environment provided by the bromine-fluorine bonding arrangement.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Bromine pentafluoride, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

3.45 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

18
3 databases, 7 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for BrF5, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Cmc21 (No. 36)orthorhombic3.450.0000-3.1953.28
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic6.55
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic4.08
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic3.82
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic4.44
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic4.21
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic6.56
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic4.53
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic4.23
Cmc21 (No. 36)
I4/m (No. 87)Tetragonal4.54
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic6.05
Uses

Applications

Where Bromine pentafluoride is used.

Fluorinating agentOxidizer in rocket propellantsEtchant in semiconductor manufacturingNuclear fuel processing
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Bromine pentafluoride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is BrF5?

Bromine pentafluoride is a stable, highly reactive interhalogen compound primarily utilized as a powerful fluorinating agent and oxidizer.

More questions
What is BrF5 used for?
Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5) is used in fluorinating agent, oxidizer in rocket propellants, etchant in semiconductor manufacturing, and nuclear fuel processing.
What is the band gap of BrF5?
Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5) has a DFT-computed band gap of 3.45 eV across 18 reported structures.
Is BrF5 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 3.45 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is BrF5 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of BrF5?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5) is orthorhombic symmetry, space group Cmc21 (No. 36).
What is the density of BrF5?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5) is 3.28 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of BrF5 are known?
18 structures of BrF5 are reported across 3 databases, spanning 7 distinct space groups.
What elements does BrF5 contain?
Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5) contains Br and F (2 elements).
Where does the data for BrF5 come from?
BrF5 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a standalone representative of its class in this context, bromine pentafluoride serves as a benchmark for high-reactivity interhalogen chemistry, demonstrating the stability and chemical utility inherent to fully fluorinated bromine species.

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).

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