Structure via PubChem · Public domain (PubChem)
Chemical data
- Formula
- Cl2O
- Molecular weight
- 86.9 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- chloro hypochlorite
- SMILES
- O(Cl)Cl
- InChIKey
- RCJVRSBWZCNNQT-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- XLogP
- 1.6
- Polar surface area
- 9.2 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 0
- H-bond acceptors
- 1
- Formal charge
- 0
via PubChem
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Dichlorine monoxide (IUPAC name: oxygen dichloride ) is an inorganic compound with the molecular formula Cl2O. It was first synthesised in 1834 by Antoine Jérôme Balard, who along with Gay-Lussac also determined its composition. In older literature it is often referred to as chlorine monoxide, which can be a source of confusion as that name now refers to the ClO radical.
At room temperature it exists as a brownish-yellow gas which is soluble in both water and organic solvents. Chemically, it is a member of the chlorine oxide family of compounds, as well as being the anhydride of hypochlorous acid. It is a strong oxidiser and chlorinating agent.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “dichlorine monoxide” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.