CBr4
Carbon tetrabromide · Tetrabromomethane
Carbon tetrabromide is a stable, semiconducting organic halide widely utilized as a reagent in chemical synthesis and as a flame retardant.

About Carbon tetrabromide
Carbon tetrabromide is a halogenated organic compound that sits on the thermodynamic convex hull, indicating robust stability under standard conditions. As a semiconducting material, it serves as a critical reagent in various organic transformations, particularly in Appel reactions and bromination processes.
Beyond its utility in synthesis, the compound is valued for its physical properties in specialized industrial applications. Its structural characteristics have been extensively documented across multiple databases, reflecting its importance as a fundamental building block in halogen chemistry.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Carbon tetrabromide, aggregated across 4 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for CBr4, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | 2.93 | 0.0000 | -3.372 | 3.05 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.46 |
| — | — | — | — | — | 4.99 |
| — | — | — | — | — | 4.99 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 7.65 |
| Pm (No. 6) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 8.34 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 3.50 |
| Pmm2 (No. 25) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 4.91 |
| Cm (No. 8) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 3.67 |
| C2 (No. 5) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 4.99 |
Applications
Where Carbon tetrabromide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Carbon tetrabromide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is CBr4?
Carbon tetrabromide is a stable, semiconducting organic halide widely utilized as a reagent in chemical synthesis and as a flame retardant.
What is CBr4 used for?
What is the band gap of CBr4?
Is CBr4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is CBr4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of CBr4?
What is the density of CBr4?
How many polymorphs of CBr4 are known?
What elements does CBr4 contain?
Where does the data for CBr4 come from?
How It Compares
As a primary halogenated carbon derivative, carbon tetrabromide serves as a benchmark for reactivity and stability within the broader class of polyhalogenated alkanes, providing a versatile platform for electrophilic bromination that is essential in synthetic organic chemistry.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
- omat24 — Data from OMat24 (Meta FAIR). Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv 2410.12771 (2024).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
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