Orientation of Atoms in Lewis Structures

[Anne Cam 3A]

When drawing a Lewis structure where a central atom is surrounded by at least two different types of atoms, does it matter how the structure is oriented? For example, with COCl2, can the positions of Cl and O vary as long as the bonds and lone pairs are correct?

[Claire Malley 2B]

I don't believe it specifically matters where you put the other two atoms in your example, the main concern is having the central atom having the lowest ionization energy. For molecular shape there might be a specific way but for Lewis structures, since they are 2 dimensional, there is no specific process to put the other two atoms. Hope that helped!

[E-Ming Huang 1L]

Yep, it doesn't matter as long as the middle atom has the lowest ionization energy. Sometimes, we get same structures with differing arrangement of the atoms called isomers and this actually happens a lot with compounds made out of C, O and N.