The bromate anion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

, BrO, is a bromine

Bromine

Bromine ") is a chemical element with the symbol Br, an atomic number of 35, and an atomic mass of 79.904. It is in the halogen element group. The element was isolated independently by two chemists, Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Jerome Balard, in 1825–1826...

-based oxoanion

Oxyanion

An oxyanion or oxoanion is a chemical compound with the generic formula AxOyz− . Oxoanions are formed by a large majority of the chemical elements. The formulae of simple oxoanions are determined by the octet rule...

. A bromate is a chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 that contains this ion. Examples of bromates include sodium bromate

Sodium bromate

Sodium bromate, the inorganic compound with the chemical formula of NaBrO3, is the sodium salt of bromic acid. It is a strong oxidant, mainly used in continuous or batch dyeing processes involving sulfur or vat dyes and as a hair-permagent, chemical agent, or gold solvent in gold mines when used...

, , and potassium bromate

Potassium bromate

Potassium bromate , is a bromate of potassium and takes the form of white crystals or powder.-Uses in baking:Potassium bromate is typically used as a flour improver , strengthening the dough and allowing higher rising. It is an oxidizing agent, and under the right conditions, will be completely...

, .

Bromates are formed many different ways in municipal drinking water. The most common is the reaction of ozone

Ozone

Ozone , or trioxygen, is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope...

 and bromide

Bromide

A bromide is a chemical compound containing bromide ion, that is bromine atom with effective charge of −1. The class name can include ionic compounds such as caesium bromide or covalent compounds such as sulfur dibromide.-Natural occurrence:...

:

Br + → BrO

Electrochemical processes, such as electrolysis of brine without a membrane

Chloralkali process

The chloralkali process is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution . Depending on the method several products beside hydrogen can be produced. If the products are separated, chlorine and sodium hydroxide are the products; by mixing, sodium hypochlorite or sodium...

 operating to form hypochlorite

Hypochlorite

The hypochlorite ion, also known as chlorate anion is ClO−. A hypochlorite compound is a chemical compound containing this group, with chlorine in oxidation state +1.Hypochlorites are the salts of hypochlorous acid...

, will also produce bromate when bromide ion is present in the brine solution.

Photoactivation (sunlight exposure) will encourage liquid or gaseous chlorine to generate bromate in bromide-containing water.

In laboratories bromates can be synthesized by dissolving in a concentrated solution of potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide

Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, commonly called caustic potash.Along with sodium hydroxide , this colorless solid is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications. Most applications exploit its reactivity toward acids and its corrosive...

 (KOH).