sulphur chloride. is it S2Cl2 or SCl2?

alben

i have a small doubt.
when sulphur reacts with magnesium what is the product, S2Cl2 or SCl2?

Reply 1

CrazyChemist

alben

i have a small doubt.
when sulphur reacts with magnesium what is the product, S2Cl2 or SCl2?

S2Cl2 I believe

Reply 2

CrazyChemist

Actually, I'm going to cahnge my mind there - SCl₂

Reply 3

OldakQuill

~~Sulphur is in group VI, like oxygen, so has a charge of 2-. Chlorine is 1+, so two chlorine to every sulphur; ergo, SCl2.~~

What was I thinking! Sulphur and chlorine are both negative molecules, so cannot form a compound. I assume you meant magnesium as in the text, in which case the same kinda thing applies - MgCl2.
Oldak.

Reply 4

CrazyChemist

Hang on - sulphur + magnesium giving SCl₂???? something wrong?

S+Cl₂ -> SCl₂

Is this what you want? I'm getting a headache :frown:

Reply 5

e-n-i-g-m-a

wouldnt it be SCl2 because sulphur is in group 6 which means its need stwo more electrons and chlorine is in group 7 and it needs one more electron. So a covalent compound is formed by sharing the electrons between two chlorine atoms and one sulphur atom !!!

Reply 6

Talya

In compounds such as NaClO, Cl has a charge of plus 1, so it can happen, dunno if it does in this case though!

-Kavanne

Reply 7

corkskrew

Kavanne

In compounds such as NaClO, Cl has a charge of plus 1

Nay not a charge but an oxidation state. No charges in a covalently bonded compound as far as I know

H2o................

corkskrew

Nay not a charge but an oxidation state. No charges in a covalently bonded compound as far as I know

Oops, I stoopid, no A for me! :: slaps wrist ::

Reply 10

snmichaels

bricktops

H2o................

That's only a delta + and delta - which are like partial charges, don't really count as full charges. Eg, it's a polar molecule

Reply 11

glance

Sulphur chloride from magnesium?

Reply 12

oxymoron

Actually Sulphur can form several chlorides - remember it is in period 3 so it can expand its octet by using its 3d orbitals.

SCl2
S2Cl2
S3Cl2
SCl4
can all form.

Remember the boding in all of these is covalent, so while you will have dipoles within the molecules, there are no ions formed so you don't have "two negative molecules"
Ignore magnesium - you do not form the chlorides by using magnesium! OldakQuill was just trying to demonstrate ionic bonding I think using a metal (so he chose magnesium).