Organic compounds containing carbon bonded to bromine are known as organobromine compounds or organobromides. Among them, the most commonly occurring one is naturally produced bromomethane.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, which are synthetic organobromine compounds, are widely used as fire-retardants. In fact, the production of fire-retardants is currently the primary industrial application of bromine.
Organobromine compounds, similar to other organohalide compounds, are generally nonpolar due to the electronegativity difference between bromine and carbon (2.9 vs 2.5). As a result, the carbon atom in a carbon-bromine bond is electrophilic, making alkyl bromides effective alkylating agents.
Organobromides undergo various important reactions, such as dehydrobromination, Grignard reactions, reductive coupling, and nucleophilic substitution.
Organobromine compounds display a reactivity that falls between that of organochlorine and organoiodine compounds. In numerous applications, organobromides are often chosen as a cost-effective compromise between reactivity and expense.