In #"thiocyanate ion"#, what is the formal charge on the sulfur atom?

1 Answer
Apr 30, 2017

The formal charge on sulfur is ZERO........

Explanation:

The typical Lewis representation of #"thiocyanate anion"# is as #S=C=N^(-)#. How?

There are:

#6(S) + 4(C) +5(N) + 1("negative charge")="16 valence electrons,"#

..........................to distribute about 3 atoms.

And from left to right #:ddotS=C=ddotN:^(-)#, there are #6# (2 lone pairs on sulfur!), #4(C)#, and #6(N)# valence electrons associated with each atom. The formal charge is thus #0,0,-1#. That the negative charge is associated with the nitrogen atom is reasonable given that this is the MOST ELECTRONEGATIVE atom......