Tellurium tetrabromide (TeBr₄

Bromine

Bromine ") is a chemical element with the symbol Br, an atomic number of 35, and an atomic mass of 79.904. It is in the halogen element group. The element was isolated independently by two chemists, Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Jerome Balard, in 1825–1826...

) is an inorganic chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

. It has a similar tetrameric structure to TeCl₄

Tellurium tetrachloride

Tellurium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the empirical formula TeCl4. The compound is volatile, subliming at 200 °C at 0.1 mm Hg. Molten TeCl4 is ionic, dissociating into ions TeCl3+ and Te2Cl102−.-Structure:...

. It can be made by reacting bromine and tellurium.. In the vapour TeBr₄ dissociates :

TeBr₄ → TeBr₂ + Br₂

It is a conductor when molten, dissociating into the ions TeBr₃⁺ and Br⁻
Solutions in benzene and toluene are non conducting and TeBr₄ is present as the tetramer, Te₄Br₁₆.. In solvents with donor properties such as acetonitrile

Acetonitrile

Acetonitrile is the chemical compound with formula . This colourless liquid is the simplest organic nitrile. It is produced mainly as a byproduct of acrylonitrile manufacture...

, CH₃CN ionic complexes are formed which make the solution conducting:

TeBr₄ + 2CH₃CN → (CH₃CN)₂TeBr₃⁺ + Br⁻