Chapter 3#59

[Lucy Dong 1G]

In this question, it asked you to write the lewis structure of chlorine monoxide, ClO. The solutions manual indicated there was a single bond between Cl and O; however, shouldn't there be a double bond so that both Cl and O have formal charges of 0?

[Alexandria_Leaf_2F]

With ClO, there is an odd number of electrons so Cl is going to have a radical on it. Radicals make the compound more reactive.

[Colin Hayashi 1K]

With ClO, there is an odd number of electrons so Cl is going to have a radical on it.

Is it enough to say that the Cl is going to have the unpaired electron solely on the basis that Cl has an odd number of valence electrons? I am wondering if the electronegativities come into play with this problem as O is going to have a formal charge of -1 and the Cl has a FC +1 whereas O electronegativity value is greater than Cl by .2 (3.4 - O, 3.2 - Cl)