Draw the Lewis Structure for ClF2

To draw the Lewis structure for chlorine difluoride (ClF₂), we start by determining the total number of valence electrons available. Chlorine (Cl) has 7 valence electrons, while each fluorine (F) atom has 7 valence electrons as well. Since there are two fluorine atoms, we have:

• 7 (from Cl) + 2 × 7 (from F) = 21 valence electrons

Next, we arrange the atoms. Chlorine will be the central atom, bonded to the two fluorine atoms. We connect the atoms with single bonds:

Cl – F

|

F

Now, each bond uses 2 electrons, so we will subtract 4 electrons for the two Cl-F bonds from our total, leaving us with:

• 21 – 4 = 17 electrons

We will now complete the octets of the fluorine atoms. Each fluorine requires 6 more electrons (3 lone pairs) to complete its octet, using up 12 electrons:

• 17 – 12 = 5 electrons remaining

Now, we place the remaining 5 electrons on the chlorine atom as lone pairs. Chlorine can have an expanded octet, so having more than 8 electrons around it is acceptable. This gives you:

• Cl with 5 electrons (2 pairs and 1 single pair) and each F with 8 electrons (3 lone pairs + 1 bond).

The final Lewis structure looks like this:

  ..    ..
   :F:  
    |  
  :Cl:  
    |  
   :F:  
  ..    ..

Here, the dots represent the lone pairs of electrons on the fluorine atoms, while the lines represent the bonds between chlorine and fluorine. This structure shows that chlorine difluoride has three lone pairs of electrons on chlorine and one lone pair on each fluorine, conforming to the rules of Lewis structures.