chlorous acid
Also known as HClO2, [ClO(OH)], HOClO, Chlorite
chemical compound
Chemical data
- Formula
- ClHO2
- Molecular weight
- 68.46 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- chlorous acid
- SMILES
- OCl=O
- InChIKey
- QBWCMBCROVPCKQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- XLogP
- 1.4
- Polar surface area
- 37.3 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 1
- H-bond acceptors
- 2
- Formal charge
- 0
via PubChem
~1 min read
Article
Chlorous acid is an inorganic compound with the formula HClO2. It is a pale-yellow weak acid. Chlorine has oxidation state +3 in this acid. The pure substance is unstable, disproportionating to hypochlorous acid (Cl oxidation state +1) and chloric acid (Cl oxidation state +5):
2 HClO2 → HClO + HClO3