File:Calcium_hypochlorite.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Chemical data
- Formula
- CaCl2O2
- Molecular weight
- 142.98 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- calcium dihypochlorite
- SMILES
- [O-]Cl.[O-]Cl.[Ca+2]
- InChIKey
- ZKQDCIXGCQPQNV-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- Polar surface area
- 46.1 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 0
- H-bond acceptors
- 2
- Formal charge
- 0
via PubChem
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Calcium hypochlorite is an inorganic compound with chemical formula Ca(ClO)2, also written as Ca(OCl)2. It is a white solid, although commercial samples appear yellow. It strongly smells of chlorine, owing to its slow decomposition in moist air. This compound is relatively stable as a solid and solution and has greater available chlorine than sodium hypochlorite. "Pure" samples have 99.2% active chlorine. Given common industrial purity, an active chlorine content of 65-70% is typical. It is the main active ingredient of commercial products called bleaching powder, used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent.
History
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “calcium hypochlorite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.