Process for separation of bromine from gaseous hydrogen bromide and use of such process in production of decabromodiphenylethane

Bromine is scrubbed from a gaseous mixture of bromine and hydrogen bromide by passing the mixture into a mixture formed from (i) diphenylethane and/or partially brominated diphenylethane with average bromine number less than about 2 and (ii) a catalytic quantity of iron and/or iron halide in which the halogen atoms are bromine atoms and/or chlorine atoms. Component (i) is brominated, and during such bromination, the mixture is kept hot enough to melt the organics to provide a liquid phase in the scrubber. Gaseous mixtures of bromine and hydrogen bromide are formed in processes of the invention in which decabromodiphenylethane products are produced using the partially brominated diphenylethane as feed to the bromination, which is conducted using an aluminum-based catalyst. Effective ways of removing iron catalyst residues from partially brominated diphenylethane or from decabromodiphenylethane product are also described.