Bromine water, because of the easy oxidation of bromide to the equivalent of Br, a potent electrophile. The enzyme bromoperoxidase catalyzes this reaction. The oceans are estimated to release 1–2 million tons of bromoform and 56,000 tons of bromomethane annually. An old qualitative test for the presence of the alkene functional group is that alkenes turn brown aqueous bromine solutions colourless, forming a bromohydrin with some of the dibromoalkane also produced. The reaction passes through a short-lived strongly electrophilic bromonium intermediate. This is an example of a halogen addition reaction. Bromine is significantly less abundant in the crust than fluorine or
Chlorine nuclide in a ratio of about (7–10) × 10 to 1 with stable chlorine isotopes: it is produced in the atmosphere by spallation of Ar by interactions with cosmic ray protons. In the top meter of the lithosphere, Cl is generated primarily by thermal neutron activation of Cl and spallation of K and Ca. In the subsurface environment, muon capture by Ca becomes more important as a way to generate Cl. Chlorine is intermediate in reactivity between fluorine and bromine, and is one of the most reactive elements. Chlorine is a weaker oxidising agent than fluorine but a stronger one