XeO2F2 Lewis Structure

[Bryce Ramirez 1J]

Why does Xenon have two double bonds with oxygen and 2 single bonds with fluorine and a lone pair to make the lowest energy level for its lewis structure. I thought that you are only allowed to assign 8 electrons to each atom, but if you were to add it up, Xe would have 14 electrons. Not sure if this was the correct lewis structure I saw or if there is a lower energy structure, but on other problems I have also seen the central atom being assigned more than 8 electrons and have been confused why this is allowed.

[Ryan Narisma 4G]

Hi Bryce Ramirez 1E! To answer your question, the reason why xenon has more than the 8 (octet) electrons is that the total number of valence electrons is greater than the number of octets that need to form. XeO2F2 has a total of 34 electrons, when you draw the lewis structure and add at least one bond between xenon and the other atoms (xenon is in the center because it is least electronegative) you find that the number of electrons used is 32. We have to use 34 electrons in our diagram. Luckily, Xenon's principle quantum number n=5 indicates that we can access the d-subshell electrons. Thus, we can put those electrons in one of the d-orbitals. This is an exception to the octet rule wherein the octet expands to hold more than 8 electrons. I hope this helps!

[TarynD_1I]

If an element is in the third period or lower, it can have an expanded octet because it can utilize d-orbitals.