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Concept
Hypochlorite
Summary
In chemistry, hypochlorite, or chloroxide is an anion with the chemical formula ClO−. It combines with a number of cations to form hypochlorite salts. Common examples include sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) and calcium hypochlorite (a component of bleaching powder, swimming pool "chlorine"). The Cl-O distance in ClO− is 1.69 Å.
The name can also refer to esters of hypochlorous acid, namely organic compounds with a ClO– group covalently bound to the rest of the molecule. The principal example is tert-butyl hypochlorite, which is a useful chlorinating agent.
Most hypochlorite salts are handled as aqueous solutions. Their primary applications are as bleaching, disinfection, and water treatment agents. They are also used in chemistry for chlorination and oxidation reactions.
Acidification of hypochlorites generates hypochlorous acid, which exists in an equilibrium with chlorine. A lowered pH (ie. towards acid) drives the following reaction to the right, liberating chlorine gas, which can be dangerous:
2 H+ + ClO- + Cl- Cl2 + H2O
Hypochlorites are generally unstable and many compounds exist only in solution. Lithium hypochlorite LiOCl, calcium hypochlorite Ca(OCl)2 and barium hypochlorite Ba(ClO)2 have been isolated as pure anhydrous compounds. All are solids. A few more can be produced as aqueous solutions. In general the greater the dilution the greater their stability. It is not possible to determine trends for the alkaline earth metal salts, as many of them cannot be formed. Beryllium hypochlorite is unheard of. Pure magnesium hypochlorite cannot be prepared; however, solid Mg(OH)OCl is known. Calcium hypochlorite is produced on an industrial scale and has good stability. Strontium hypochlorite, Sr(OCl)2, is not well characterised and its stability has not yet been determined.
Upon heating, hypochlorite degrades to a mixture of chloride, oxygen, and chlorates:
2 ClO- → 2 Cl- + O2
3 ClO- → 2 Cl- + ClO3-
This reaction is exothermic and in the case of concentrated hypochlorites, such as LiOCl and Ca(OCl)2, can lead to a dangerous thermal runaway and potentially explosions.
Official source
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