Barium Hypobromite

The Uses of Barium Hypobromite

Barium hypobromite has been used in several research studies to oxidize specific organic molecules to form another type. One example is the conversion of leucine to valeric aldehyde. The reason is that barium compounds like BaCO3 or Ba(OH)2 are much more insoluble than the homologous compounds of the alkaline earths so that they can be removed by filtration from the reaction mixture.
Barium hypobromite is unstable and so is not available commercially.

Preparation

Barium Hypobromite is known only in solution and is prepared by the same methods given for the Mg and Ca salts. Ba(OH)2 is generally used and bromine is added to an aqueous solution thereof:
Br2(liq)＋ 2Ba(OH)2 (aq)→BaBr (aq)＋ Ba(BrO)2 (aq)＋ 2H2O(liq)
However, removal of the salt by vacuum evaporation causes a disproportionation reaction in which the bromide and bromate are always obtained. Because of this redox reaction, even at 0°C, barium hypobromite is always supplied as a solution or is made in situ as needed.