Chemical Properties
Faintly yellow solid
Uses
Analytical chemistry, medicine.
Safety Profile
Confirmed human
carcinogen. A poison. See also ARSENIC
COMPOUNDS and BROMIDES. When
heated to decomposition it emits very toxic
fumes of As and Br-.
Synthesis
A boat is placed in a Pyrex tube and filled with As powder. A stream of dry N3, saturated with Br 3 vapor by passage through a Br2-filled wash bottle, is passed over the As. The tube is inclined toward the receiver and connected with the latter by means of an asbestos-paper-sealed adapter. The tube is heated until the onset of reaction. The product is distilled from the receiver over As powder.
Purification Methods
It hydrolyses in H2O, but less readily than AsCl3. POISONOUS. [Schenk in Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry (Ed. Brauer) Academic Press Vol I p 597 1963.]
