) is a 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...

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Preparation

Selenium oxybromide can be prepared through the reaction of selenium dioxide

Selenium dioxide

Selenium dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula SeO2. This colorless solid is one of the most frequently encountered compounds of selenium.-Properties:...

 and selenium tetrabromide. Selenium and selenium dioxide are reacted with bromine

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...

 to form selenium monobromide and selenium tetrabromide. Dissolving the selenium dioxide in the tetrabromide will produce the oxybromide.

2 Se + 2 Br → Se₂Br₂

Se₂Br₂ + 6 Br → SeBr₄

SeBr₄ + SeO₂ → 2 SeOBr₂

Properties

Selenium oxybromide is a reddish-brown solid with a low melting point (41.6°C) and chemical properties similar to selenium oxychloride. It boils at 220°C and decomposes near the boiling point, making distillation an ineffective purification method. Its electrical conductivity in the liquid state just above the melting temperature is 6×10⁻⁵ S/m. SeOBr₂ is hydrolyzed by water to form H₂SeO₃

Selenous acid

Selenous acid is the chemical compound with the formula H2SeO3. Structurally, it is more accurately described by 2SeO. It is the principal oxoacid of selenium; the other being selenic acid.-Formation and properties:...

 and HBr

Hydrobromic acid

Hydrobromic acid is a strong acid formed by dissolving the diatomic molecule hydrogen bromide in water. "Constant boiling" hydrobromic acid is an aqueous solution that distills at 124.3 °C and contains 47.6% HBr by weight, which is 8.89 mol/L. Hydrobromic acid has a pKa of −9, making it a...

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SeOBr₂ is highly reactive, with most reactions taking place in the liquid state. Selenium will dissolve in it, forming Se₂Br₂. Iron, copper, gold, platinum, and zinc are all attacked by SeOBr₂.