MgBr2

Magnesium bromide · Magnesium dibromide

Magnesium bromide is a stable, insulating salt widely used as a reagent in chemical synthesis.

BrMg
Crystal structure of MgBr2 (trigonal, P-3m1 (No. 164))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Magnesium bromide

Magnesium bromide is a thermodynamically stable inorganic salt that functions as a wide-band-gap insulator. Its robust structural profile is evidenced by a high degree of data richness across multiple crystallographic databases, reflecting its well-defined nature in solid-state chemistry.

This compound is primarily utilized as a specialized reagent in organic synthesis and as a catalyst for various chemical transformations. Its ability to act as a Lewis acid makes it a valuable tool for chemists working on complex molecular architectures.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Magnesium bromide, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

4.47 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

70
3 databases, 17 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for MgBr2, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
P-3m1 (No. 164)trigonal4.470.0000-3.4883.71
P-3m1 (No. 164)Trigonal3.41
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic3.54
P-1 (No. 2)Triclinic6.62
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic3.37
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic4.14
Amm2 (No. 38)Orthorhombic6.54
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic3.65
Amm2 (No. 38)Orthorhombic3.96
P-1 (No. 2)Triclinic4.15
Cc (No. 9)Monoclinic4.27
Cc (No. 9)Monoclinic3.21
Uses

Applications

Where Magnesium bromide is used.

Organic synthesisLewis acid catalystPharmaceutical manufacturing
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

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

What is MgBr2?

Magnesium bromide is a stable, insulating salt widely used as a reagent in chemical synthesis.

More questions
What is MgBr2 used for?
Magnesium bromide (MgBr2) is used in organic synthesis, lewis acid catalyst, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
What is the band gap of MgBr2?
Magnesium bromide (MgBr2) has a DFT-computed band gap of 4.47 eV across 70 reported structures.
Is MgBr2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 4.47 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is MgBr2 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Magnesium bromide (MgBr2) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of MgBr2?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Magnesium bromide (MgBr2) is trigonal symmetry, space group P-3m1 (No. 164).
What is the density of MgBr2?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Magnesium bromide (MgBr2) is 3.71 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of MgBr2 are known?
70 structures of MgBr2 are reported across 3 databases, spanning 17 distinct space groups.
What elements does MgBr2 contain?
Magnesium bromide (MgBr2) contains Br and Mg (2 elements).
Where does the data for MgBr2 come from?
MgBr2 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a standalone representative of its class within this context, magnesium bromide serves as a fundamental example of a stable, insulating metal halide, providing a baseline for understanding the structural and electronic behavior of alkaline earth metal bromides.

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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