Hypobromous acid
Hypobromous acid (HBrO) is an unstable, weak oxoacid in which bromine has oxidation state +1. Its conjugate base is the hypobromite ion, BrO−.
Hypobromite: The BrO− ion, formed when hypobromous acid loses a proton. This conjugate base predominates as pH rises and supplies much of the acid’s oxidizing chemistry.
Bromamine: A compound containing a nitrogen–bromine bond, often formed when reactive bromine species react with ammonia or amines. Nitrogen compounds can consume HBrO and produce bromamines during water treatment.
Bromine: A chemical element with atomic number 35 and a reddish-brown liquid form at room temperature. HBrO is one of bromine’s oxygen-containing compounds.
Hydrobromic acid: The strong aqueous acid HBr, containing bromine in oxidation state −1. It is a reduction product of bromine chemistry and contrasts with oxidizing HBrO.
Bromine disproportionation: A redox reaction in which bromine in one oxidation state forms products with both higher and lower oxidation states. Bromine hydrolysis can produce HBrO alongside bromide, placing bromine in two oxidation states.
Bromine disinfection: The use of bromine-based chemicals to control microorganisms in water and other settings. HBrO is one of the active disinfecting species formed when bromine compounds dissolve in water.
Oxoacid: An acid containing hydrogen, oxygen, and another element, with ionizable hydrogen bonded through oxygen. HBrO belongs to this class of acids, whose formulas encode oxygen and central-atom chemistry.
Bromous acid: The unstable bromine oxoacid HBrO2, with bromine in oxidation state +3. Its intermediate oxidation state separates it from hypobromous and bromic acids.
Bromine hydrolysis: The reaction of bromine with water that forms hydrobromic acid and hypobromous acid. It is a common route by which molecular bromine generates HBrO in water.
Swimming pool sanitation: Methods for controlling microbes and contaminants in swimming-pool water. Bromine-based pool treatments can establish HBrO as a disinfectant, especially in warmer water.