The diatomic molecule tellurium monoxide has been found as a transient species.

[2] Previous work that claimed the existence of TeO solid has not been substantiated.

[5] It was supposedly created by the thermal decomposition of tellurium sulfoxide in a vacuum,[citation needed] and was shown to react with hydrogen chloride in a 1913 report.

[6] Later work has not substantiated the claim that this was a pure solid compound.

[2] By 1984, the company Panasonic was working on an erasable optical disk drive containing "tellurium monoxide" (really a mixture of Te and TeO2).