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
Bromine trifluoride fluoroanions: Bromine trifluoride Bromine trifluoride is an interhalogen compound with the formula BrF. It is a straw-coloured liquid with a pungent odor. It is soluble in sulfuric acid but reacts violently with water and organic compounds. It is a powerful fluorinating agent and an ionizing inorganic solvent. It is used to produce uranium hexafluoride (UF) in the processing and reprocessing of nuclear fuel. Bromine trifluoride was first described by Paul Lebeau in 1906, who obtained the material by the reaction of bromine with fluorine at 20 °C: The disproportionation of bromine monofluoride also gives bromine trifluoride: Like ClF and IF,