What is the Lewis structure of NO2Cl and what is its molecular shape?

The Lewis structure of nitrogen dioxide chloride (NO₂Cl) can be drawn as follows:

  O
  ||
  N - O
  |
  Cl

In this structure, nitrogen (N) is the central atom bonded to two oxygen (O) atoms and one chlorine (Cl) atom. The nitrogen atom has a total of five valence electrons, while each oxygen contributes six and chlorine contributes seven, leading to a total of 24 valence electrons in the molecule.

To deduce the shape of the molecule, we apply VSEPR (Valence Shell Electron Repulsion) theory. Nitrogen in NO₂Cl has three regions of electron density around it: two double bonds with the oxygen atoms and one single bond with the chlorine atom. Additionally, nitrogen has one lone pair of electrons.

This configuration results in a trigonal pyramidal arrangement for the electron pairs, but due to the presence of a lone pair, the molecular shape is classified as bent. Hence, the molecular shape of NO₂Cl is bent, with bond angles slightly less than 120 degrees due to the repulsion of the lone pair, which takes more space than the bond pairs.