CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Which would be the stronger acid HClO or HClO2? I know that you first look at bond length and then anion strength but how would you figure this one out?

HCLO2 would be the stronger acid, because the greater the # of oxygen atoms attached to the central atom, the stronger the acid.

curry 1E wrote:Which would be the stronger acid HClO or HClO2? I know that you first look at bond length and then anion strength but how would you figure this one out?

Hello,

For future reference, I would like to add that you look at bond lengths only for binary acids (H-A), because for oxoacids such as HClO and HClO2, they have the same bond (an O-H bond). For oxoacids, the one with more oxygens will be a stronger acid due to increasing amounts of electron-withdrawing atoms which will weak the O-H bond by pulling electrons away from it, and thus make it easier for a proton to be released.

HClO2 would be the stronger acid because it has a greater number of oxygen atoms attached to the central atom, making the oxidation number of the central atom greater.

HClO2, because the oxygens are more electronegative, pulling electrons away from the hydrogen. This makes the hydrogen easier to break off.

In regards to bond strength, HCLO2 stronger because of the types of bonds in the lewis structure (ex: double, single) or because of the bond angles?

HClO2 is the stronger acid because it has more oxygens. The oxygens make the conjugate base, or anion, more stable. This is because of resonance, where the negative charge on the oxygen delocalizes over the entire molecule, which stabilizes it.

To find out which one is the stronger acid between HClO and HClO2, look at the number of oxygens. Because both molecules have a H and Cl, it falls onto the number of O to determine which is the stronger acid. The general rule is the greater number of O's, the stronger the acid. This is because the oxidation state of the molecule is higher, so it has a stronger electron withdrawing power.

Which would be the stronger acid HClO or HClO2? I know that you first look at bond length and then anion strength but how would you figure this one out?

HClO2 is stronger because of how there's more oxygen and a higher electron pulling ability, which delocalizes the electron

HClO2 is the stronger acid because it pulls electrons away from the H-C bonds making them easier to break which results in more H+ ions in solution.

HC1O2 is definitely stronger than HC1O because when the electronegativity of the central atom decreases this in turn weakens the O-H bond, and most importantly to answer your question the acidity will increase when the bond is weakened.

Yeah so since the bond is representative of an oxoacid, determining bond length will not be useful in deducing which acid will be stronger. With oxoacid's we should pay attention to the number of oxygen atoms attached to the central atom. In regards to your question on whether HClO or HClO2 is more acidic, HClO2 is more acidic since it has more oxygen.

HC1O2 is definitely stronger than HC1O because when the electronegativity of the central atom decreases this in turn weakens the O-H bond, and most importantly to answer your question the acidity will increase when the bond is weakened.

HC1O2 is stronger because the atom's decreased electronegativity weakens the OH bond and since this bond is weakened, the acidity increases.

HClO2 would be the stronger acid because it has more O atoms than HClO. Since the same O-H bond is being broken for both acids, you would have to look at how strong the electron pulling power of each anion is. Since ClO2 has more O, it would pull on the electron density of the compound stronger, resulting in the O-H bond being weaker.