Why Nacl5 is an unlikely structure?!?!

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Oct 13, 2017

Because sodium only has one valence electron... #"NaCl"# is clearly known. #["NaCl"_2]^(-)#, #["NaCl"_3]^(2-)#, . . . are not...

You apparently propose that sodium has #10# valence electrons around it... and that makes no sense.

For one, this compound requires loss of #4# electrons from the clearly hypothetical #["NaCl"_5]^(4-)#... and furthermore, sodium's #3p# orbitals are significantly higher in energy than its #3s# electron. It's far too unstable to form at ordinary temperatures...

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