Bromine structure. The halogens darken in colour as the group is descended: fluorine is a very pale yellow gas, chlorine is greenish-yellow, and bromine is a reddish-brown volatile liquid that melts at −7.2 °C and boils at 58.8 °C. (Iodine is a shiny black solid.) This trend occurs because the wavelengths of visible light absorbed by the halogens increase down the group. Specifically, the colour of a halogen, such as bromine, results from the electron transition between the highest occupied antibonding "π" molecular orbital and the lowest vacant antibonding "σ" molecular orbital. The colour fades at low temperatures, so that solid
Graphite intercalation compound A stage n magnetic GIC has n graphite layers separating successive magnetic layers. As the stage number increases the interaction between spins in successive magnetic layers becomes weaker and 2D magnetic behaviour may arise. Chlorine and bromine reversibly intercalate into graphite. Iodine does not. Fluorine reacts irreversibly. In the case of bromine, the following stoichiometries are known: CBr for n = 8, 12, 14, 16, 20, and 28. Because it forms irreversibly, carbon monofluoride is often not classified as an intercalation compound. It has the formula (CF). It is prepared by reaction of gaseous fluorine with graphitic carbon at 215–230