12.1.2 Inserting ‘{ ‘}’ with @{ @} and @l rbracechar{}

@{ produces a single ‘{’ in the output, and @} produces a single ‘}’. Do not put braces after either an @{ or an @} command.

@lbracechar{} and @rbracechar{} also produce single ‘{’ and ‘}’ characters in the output. They do need following braces, as usual for alphabetic commands. In inline conditionals (see Inline Conditionals), it can be necessary to avoid using literal brace characters in the source (and may be clearer in other contexts).