![Hypochlorite-3D-vdW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Hypochlorite-3D-vdW.png)
A hypohalite is an
oxyanion An oxyanion, or oxoanion, is an ion with the generic formula (where A represents a chemical element and O represents an oxygen atom). Oxyanions are formed by a large majority of the chemical elements. The formulae of simple oxyanions are determine ...
containing a
halogen
The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of five or six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At), and tennessine (Ts). In the modern IUPAC nomenclature, this group is ...
in
oxidation state
In chemistry, the oxidation state, or oxidation number, is the hypothetical charge of an atom if all of its bonds to different atoms were fully ionic. It describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons) of an atom in a chemical compound. C ...
+1. This includes
hypoiodite,
hypobromite
The hypobromite ion, also called alkaline bromine water, is BrO−. Bromine is in the +1 oxidation state. The Br–O bond length is 1.82 Å. Hypobromite is the bromine compound analogous to hypochlorites found in common bleaches, and in immune cel ...
and
hypochlorite
In chemistry, hypochlorite is an anion with the chemical formula ClO−. It combines with a number of cations to form hypochlorite salts. Common examples include sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) and calcium hypochlorite (a component of ble ...
. In
hypofluorite
Hypofluorous acid, chemical formula H O F, is the only known oxyacid of fluorine and the only known oxoacid in which the main atom gains electrons from oxygen to create a negative oxidation state. The oxidation state of the oxygen in hypofluorite ...
(oxyfluoride) the fluorine atom is in a −1 oxidation state.
Hypohalites are also encountered in organic chemistry, often as acyl hypohalites (see the
Hunsdiecker reaction
The Hunsdiecker reaction (also called the Borodin reaction or the Hunsdiecker–Borodin reaction) is a name reaction in organic chemistry whereby silver salts of carboxylic acids react with a halogen to produce an organic halide. It is an exam ...
). Sodium hypohalite is used in the
haloform reaction
In chemistry, the haloform reaction is a chemical reaction in which a haloform (, where X is a halogen) is produced by the exhaustive halogenation of an acetyl group (, where R can be either a hydrogen atom, an alkyl or an aryl group), in the ...
as a test for
methyl ketone
In organic chemistry, a ketone is a functional group with the structure R–C(=O)–R', where R and R' can be a variety of carbon-containing substituents. Ketones contain a carbonyl group –C(=O)– (which contains a carbon-oxygen double bo ...
s.
[''Experimental Organic Chemistry: A Miniscale and Microscale Approach'' by John Gilbert Stephen Martin p. 863]
Structure
The Cl-O bond length in crystalline
sodium hypochlorite
Sodium hypochlorite (commonly known in a dilute solution as bleach) is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula NaOCl (or NaClO), comprising a sodium cation () and a hypochlorite anion (or ). It may ...
pentahydrate, NaOCl·5H
2O, is 1.686 Å, while in
sodium hypobromite
Sodium hypobromite is the inorganic compound with the formula NaBrO. It is usually obtained as the pentahydrate, so the material that is usually called sodium hypobromite has the formula NaOBr • 5H2O. It is a yellow-orange solid tha ...
pentahydrate, NaOBr·5H
2O, the Br–O bond length is 8% longer at 1.820 Å.
References
Hypohalites
{{chem-stub