if you were to draw a Lewis dot structure for HOCl...would it be H:Cl:O: (with double dots above & below the Oxygen & Chlorine) or would it be:
H:O:Cl: (same thing for the double dots being above & below the Cl & O?
Basically...is Oxygen the central atom in this case or is Cl the central atom? H is obviously a terminal atom.
HOCl forms from OCl- + H+ and vice versa.
the anion is hypocholrite (OCl-). Given the attaching proton is positively charged and out of O and Cl, O is more nucleophilic (Cl has the highest electronegativity), the H will attach to the O atom making the oxygen the cetral atom.
I.e., H:O:Cl: is strucutally correct.
Although we often write HClO as the formula for hypochlorous acid (I know I do that), I agree with xX_Supaman_xX that HOCl is the proper way with O being the central atom. A rule to help with this is worth remembering. USUALLY, the least electronegative element (in this case O) is the central atom. A corollary to that is that H is never the central atom.
To determine the Lewis dot structure for HOCl, we need to identify the central atom. In general, the central atom is usually the one with the lowest electronegativity (ability to attract electrons) or the one that can form the most bonds.
In this case, both oxygen (O) and chlorine (Cl) are more electronegative than hydrogen (H). However, chlorine has a larger atomic number and can accommodate more electrons in its valence shell. Therefore, in the Lewis dot structure for HOCl, chlorine (Cl) will be the central atom.
H:O:Cl or H-Cl-O with double dots above and below the oxygen(O) and the chlorine(Cl) correctly represents the Lewis dot structure for HOCl. The double dots indicate the unshared electron pairs on the oxygen and chlorine atoms. The hydrogen (H) will be a terminal atom, connected directly to the chlorine.
Remember, when drawing Lewis dot structures, it's important to satisfy the octet rule, which states that most elements (except hydrogen and helium) tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration of eight valence electrons.