It is an excellent demethylating or dealkylating agent for the cleavage of ethers, also with subsequent cyclization, often in the production of pharmaceuticals.

[4] The dibromo(organo)borane can then undergo hydrolysis to give a hydroxyl group, boric acid, and hydrogen bromide as products.

[5] It also finds applications in olefin polymerization and in Friedel-Crafts chemistry as a Lewis acid catalyst.

The first synthesis was done by Poggiale in 1846 by reacting boron trioxide with carbon and bromine at high temperatures:[7] An improvement of this method was developed by F. Wöhler and Deville in 1857.

By starting from amorphous boron the reaction temperatures are lower and no carbon monoxide is produced:[8] Boron tribromide is used in organic synthesis,[9] pharmaceutical manufacturing, image processing, semiconductor doping, semiconductor plasma etching, and photovoltaic manufacturing.