Question

Chlorite anion was exposed to strong radiation and had 2 successive electrons removed, creating a chlorite cation. What is the molecular geometry on this chlorite cation?

Answer 1

Answer:

bent

Explanation:

The chlorite ion has been pictured in the image attached with its two main resonance contributors.

The ion has four regions of electron density as shown. On the basis of the VSEPR theory, we expect a tetrahedral geometry.

However, the ion is bent due to the effect of the lone pairs on chlorine which is the central atom in the ion. This distorts the bond angle of the ion hence the ion has a bent molecular geometry.