Bromine

By John Emsley2008-05-01T00:00:00

Source: Jupiterimages

Once so essential, now mired in controversy

The bromine story began with 24-year-old student Antoine-Jérôme Balard (1802-76) who found that the salt residues left by evaporating brine from Montpellier, France, gave an oily red liquid when treated with acid. He realised this was a new element and reported it to the French Academy, who confirmed his discovery. When they realised it was chemically similar to chlorine and iodine, French chemists proposed the name bromine, based on the Greek word bromos meaning stench.

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