Affixes

The form is widely employed in chemistry to mark a bromine derivative of a compound, as in bromoacetone, bromobenzene, and bromoform, the bromine analogue of chloroform. Bromides are compounds of bromine with another element or group, while bromates are salts of bromic acid, HBrO₃. To brominate a chemical compound is to combine bromine with it.

In medicine, bromocriptine, a bromine-containing synthetic analogue of the ergot alkaloids, is used in the treatment of Parkinsonism and other conditions; bromsulphthalein (also called sulphobromophthalein) is a blue dye used in tests of liver function; brompheniramine is an antihistamine.

The element's name derives from Greek brōmos, a stink, because it has a heavy, irritating smell. The same root occurs in bromhidrosis, the secretion of foul-smelling sweat, body odour.