The oxychloride, bromides, and other compounds were subsequently discovered; here we need only notice Moissan's preparation of the trifluoride and Thorpe's discovery of the pentafluoride, a compound of especial note, for it volatilizes unchanged, giving a vapour of normal density and so demonstrating the stability of a pentavalent phosphorus compound (the pentachloride and pentabromide dissociate into a molecule of the halogen element and phosphorus trichoride).
The pentabromide exists, but tantalum and iodine apparently do not combine.
The dibromide, WBr 2, is a non-volatile bluishblack powder obtained by reducing the pentabromide with hydrogen.
It does not dissociate on heating as do the pentachloride and pentabromide, thus indicating the existence of pentavalent phosphorus in a gaseous compound; dissociation, however, into the trifluoride and free fluorine may be brought about by induction sparks of 150 to 200 mm.
The pentabromide, PBr 5, which results from phosphorus and an excess of bromine, is a yellow solid, and closely resembles the pentachloride.