The Lewis dot structure for phosphorus trichloride (PCl3) consists of the central phosphorus (P) atom bonded to three chlorine (Cl) atoms. In this structure, phosphorus has five valence electrons, while each chlorine has seven valence electrons.
To depict the Lewis structure:
- Place the phosphorus atom in the center.
- Draw three single bonds from phosphorus to each of the three chlorine atoms. Each single bond represents a pair of shared electrons.
- Add the remaining valence electrons to the chlorine atoms. Each chlorine atom will have three lone pairs of electrons around it, completing its octet.
This results in a structure where phosphorus has one lone pair of electrons and exhibits a trigonal pyramidal shape due to the presence of this lone pair. The final Lewis structure looks like this:
Cl
|
Cl - P - Cl
|
:
The ‘:’ represents the lone pair of electrons on the phosphorus atom. This representation highlights the individual electron pairs and shows how the bonding occurs in PCl3.