General Description
White powder or crystal. Turns green to dark blue on exposure to sunlight. Sinks and mixes slowly with water.
Reactivity Profile
COPPER BROMIDE (OUS)(7787-70-4) has weak oxidizing or reducing powers. Redox reactions can however still occur. The majority of compounds in this class are slightly soluble or insoluble in water. If soluble in water, then the solutions are usually neither strongly acidic nor strongly basic. These compounds are not water-reactive.
Air & Water Reactions
Mixes slowly with water.
Health Hazard
INHALATION: Irritation of upper respiratory tract. EYES: Irritation of conjunctivae. SKIN: Irritation, acne-like rash (usually from prolonged exposure). INGESTION: Vomiting caused by local irritant and astringent action of ionic Cu on stomach and intestines. Pain in mouth, esophagus, and stomach. Inorganic bromides produce depression, psychoses, and mental deterioration.
Chemical Properties
Copper(I) bromide is a white, cubic, crystalline material that decomposes on exposure to light or moisture in air. It forms complexes with hydrochloric and hydrobromic acids and aqueous ammonia.
Preparation
It is prepared pyrometallurgically with copper metal and elemental bromine in a process similar to that for copper(I) chloride. It can also be produced by the reduction of copper(II) sulfate solutions in the presence of sodium bromide using metallic copper or sulfite as the reducing agent. Copper(I) bromide is used as a polymerization catalyst in organic reactions.
reaction suitability
reagent type: catalyst
core: copper
Purification Methods
Purify it as for cuprous iodide but using aqueous NaBr. [Keller & Wycoff Inorg Synth II 3 1946, Glemser & Sauer in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry (Ed. Brauer) Academic Press Vol II p 1006 1965.]
