SCL2 Lewis Structure, Hybridization: 3 Easy Steps to Follow!

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SCl2 known as sulfur dichloride is a cherry-red liquid with S-Cl bond length 201 pm and bond angle 1030. In SCl2 sulfur is attached with two chlorine atoms by two sigma bonds. It is sp3 hybridized with a bent structure. It is highly corrosive and toxic element with a molar mass 102.97 g/mol and density 1.621 g/cm3.

scl2 lewis structure
scl2 lewis structure

Let’s focus on the structure, hybridization along with some relevant topics on SCl2.

How to draw Lewis structure for SCL2?

Alright, let’s tackle drawing the Lewis structure for Sulfur Dichloride (SCl2) in a way that’s easy to follow and hopefully, a bit fun. Grab your pencil, paper, and let’s get into the chemistry behind this!

Count Your Electrons: First off, we need to know how many valence electrons we’re playing with. Valence electrons are like the currency for bonding; they’re what atoms use to form bonds. Sulfur is in group 16 of the periodic table, so it brings 6 valence electrons to the table. Chlorine is in group 17, so each chlorine atom brings 7. But since we have two chlorine atoms, we need to multiply that by 2. Add them all up, and we have a total of 20 valence electrons to work with.

Find Your Center: In SCl2, sulfur is going to be our central atom. Why? Because it’s less electronegative than chlorine, and it’s kind of a tradition that the less electronegative atom takes the central spot (hydrogen and helium aside, since they play by their own rules). So, put sulfur in the middle and draw two chlorine atoms on either side.

Connect the Dots: Draw a single bond (which accounts for two electrons) from sulfur to each chlorine atom. These single bonds are like the initial handshakes—formal agreements to start sharing electrons. After drawing these bonds, we’ve used up 4 of our 20 valence electrons.

SCl2 Lewis Structure : Central atom

Octet Rule Time: Now, we need to make sure each atom gets its full share of electrons, following the octet rule. This rule is like the golden rule of chemistry: atoms are happiest when they have 8 electrons in their valence shell. The chlorine atoms are already halfway there, having 2 electrons from the bond. Surround each chlorine with 6 more electrons (3 pairs) to fill their octets. This step uses 12 of our electrons (6 for each chlorine), leaving us with 4 more.

SCl2 Lewis Structure : Outer atom

Back to Sulfur: With the chlorines happy, we turn back to our sulfur atom. Sulfur already has 4 electrons from the bonds. Let’s place the remaining 4 electrons (2 pairs) around sulfur as lone pairs. Now, sulfur has a full octet too, and we’ve used all 20 electrons.

SCl2 Lewis Structure : Octet Rule

Final Check: Our structure should now show sulfur with two single bonds to chlorine and two pairs of lone electrons. Each chlorine has three pairs of lone electrons. This structure satisfies the octet rule for each atom and uses all 20 valence electrons, making it a complete and happy molecular family.

SCl2 Lewis Structure
SCl2 Electron Dot Lewis Structure

That’s how you draw the Lewis structure for SCl2! It’s like putting together a puzzle where each piece is crucial for the whole picture. And in this case, the picture shows how atoms share electrons to stick together.

SCL2 Lewis Structure Shape

Shape of any molecule depends on the following factor-

  • Hybridization
  • Repulsive factor

If repulsive factor is totally absent in any molecule then only hybridization will determine the shape of the molecule and the actual geometry will be the shape of that molecule.

Repulsive factor can be different types. Among them three main repulsion is included here. They are-

  1. Lone pair-lone pair repulsion
  2. Lone pair-bond pair repulsion
  3. Bond pair-bond pair repulsion

The increasing order of this above repulsive factor is-

Lone pair-lone pair repulsion > Lone pair-bond pair repulsion > bond pair-bond pair repulsion.

In SCl2, sulfur has two lone pair and each of the fluorine has three lone pairs. Lone pairs of the sulfur atom will face repulsion with each other and with the bond pair electrons also. Thus, the actual structure is slightly deviated and it is shown bent structure with sp3 hybridization.

image 108
Shape of SCl2

SCL2 Lewis Structure Formal Charges

Lewis dot structure has a great significance in determining the formal charge of each of the atom in the molecular species. Formal charge decides if the molecule is a charged species of neutral.

Formal charge can be calculated using the following formula-

  • Formal charge = Total number of valance electrons – number of electrons remain as nonbonded – (number of electrons involved in bond formation/2)
  • Formal charge of sulfur = 6 – 4 – (4/2) = 0
  • Formal charge of each of the chlorine atom = 7 – 6 – (2/2) = 0

Nonbonded electrons on sulfur and chlorine are 4 and 6 respectively. Sulfur is attached with two bonds with two chlorine atoms so the boning electrons for sulfur is 4 and for chlorine is 2.

SCL2 Lewis Structure Lone Pairs

Lone pairs are basically those electrons which are not participating in bond formation. number of lone pairs on each atom can be calculated using the following formula-

  • Lone pair or nonbonded electron = Total number of valance electron – number of bonded electrons.
  • Nonbonded electrons on sulfur = 6 – 2 = 4
  • Nonbonded electrons on each of the chlorine atom = 7 – 1 = 6

Sulfur has six valance electron (3s2 3p4) and chlorine has one more valance electron than sulfur (3s2 3p5). Among these six valance electrons two electron are used in bond formation with chlorine. Thus, (6-2) = 4 electrons are left as nonbonded electrons. In chlorine only one electron is involved in bond formation with sulfur. Thus, (7-1) =6 electrons or three pair of electrons are left as nonbonded.

So, total nonbonding electrons in SCl2 is (4 + 2×6) = 16

SCl2 Hybridization

Hybridization occurs between two or more than two atomic orbitals for giving the molecule extra stability.

Central atom (sulfur) is sp3 hybridized in SCl2.  The hybridization of central atom can also be determined from the lewis structure also.

SCl2 Hybridization 1
Hybridization of SCl2

Thus, the geometry of the molecule is tetrahedral with bond angle 109.50. But due to presence of lone pair bond pair repulsion SCl2 is slightly deviated from its actual geometrical shape. The shape of SCl2 is observed as bent structure with <Cl S Cl bond angle 1030. This molecule has two bond pair with two lone pair which was predicted by the lewis structure is proved by the image of hybridization (shown above). In SCl2 one s orbital and three p orbitals of sulfur atom participate in hybridization. The percentage of s character in SCl2 is 25% and p character is 75%.

SCl2 Lewis Structure Octet Rule

Octet rule is defined as the rule of having eight electrons in the outer most shell of any atom to gain the extra stability. Through this rule, an atom will get the electron configuration like its nearest noble gas molecule.

The atom will have tendency to take part in any reaction until its octet will be filled up because valance shell electrons will only participate in reaction. Noble gases are very much less reactive as they have full filled electron configuration in their respective valance shell.

But octet rule is violated in SCl2 because both of the sulfur and chlorine are group three element and they cannot have eight electrons in their valance shell. They have s, p and d orbitals. S, p and d orbital have the capacity of having electron 2,6 and 10 respectively. Thus, any group three element can have eighteen electrons (2+ 6 +10 =18) in their valance shell.

So, SCl2 is an exception of octet rule due to presence of group III element (sulfur and chlorine).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is SCl2 reactive with water?

Answer: Yes, SCl2 reacts with water. After hydrolysis reaction, sulfurous acid, sulfur and hydrochloric acid are formed.

How can SCl2 be synthesized?

Answer: SCl2 can be synthesized by the reaction between chlorine with elemental sulfur or disulfur dichloride.

What are the uses of SCl2 in industry?

Answer: It is basically used as the chlorinating agent in the production of sulfur dyes, organic chemicals and synthetic rubber. It has also use as hardening reagent of soft woods.

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