HClO3

[106052916]

We drew the lewis structure for HClO3 in lecture today and I was wondering why the H needed to bond with one of the oxygen's as opposed to the Cl to complete its octet?

[405961647]

Because in chloric acid, the chlorine is already surrounded by four electron pairs, three of these are in covalent bonds with oxygen, and the fourth is a lone pair and thus the octet is completed. The hydrogen therefore will bond with oxygen forming a strong hydrogen bond as the oxygen is very electronegative and therefore very attractive. Therefore, the hydrogen will prefer to form a hydrogen bond with oxygen instead of bonding with chlorine.