Bromochlorofluoromethane

Bromochlorofluoromethane or fluorochlorobromomethane, is a chemical compound and trihalomethane derivative with the chemical formula CHBrClF. As one of the simplest possible stable chiral compounds, it is useful for fundamental research into this area of chemistry.^[1] However, its relative instability to hydrolysis,^[2] and lack of suitable functional groups, made separation of the enantiomers of bromochlorofluoromethane especially challenging,^[3] and this was not accomplished until almost a century after it was first synthesised, in March 2005, though it has now been done by a variety of methods.^[4][5][6][7] More recent research using bromochlorofluoromethane has focused on its potential use for experimental measurement of parity violation, a major unsolved problem in quantum physics.^[8][9][10] For example, the S enantiomer is predicted to be lower in energy by about 2.356×10⁻¹⁶ eV (56.97 mHz),^[11] and the frequency of the C⁻F vibrational mode should be about 2.4 mHz lower for the R-enantiomer.^[10]

Bromochlorofluoromethane

Left: (S)-Bromochlorofluoromethane Right: (R)-Bromochlorofluoromethane
Names
Preferred IUPAC name Bromo(chloro)fluoromethane
Other names Bromochlorofluoromethane
Identifiers
CAS Number	593-98-6 Y
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
ChemSpider	71390 Y
PubChem CID	79058
UNII	9RH760PZ3L Y
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID70870651
InChI InChI=1S/CHBrClF/c2-1(3)4/h1H Y Key: YNKZSBSRKWVMEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Y
SMILES C(F)(Cl)Br
Properties
Chemical formula	CHBrClF
Molar mass	147.37 g·mol−1
Density	1.953 g/cm3
Melting point	−115 °C; −175 °F; 158 K
Boiling point	36 °C; 97 °F; 309 K
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). Infobox references

See also

• Bromochlorodifluoromethane, used in fire extinguishers
• Bromochlorofluoroiodomethane, a theoretical derivative with iodine replacing the hydrogen