Iodine monochloride is an interhalogen compound with the formula ICl. It is a red-brown compound that melts near room temperature. Because of the difference in the electronegativity of iodine and chlorine, ICl is highly polar and behaves as a source of I+. Owing to the similarity of the properties of the compound with bromine (red-brown liquid at room temperature), its synthesis led early researchers to believe that the reaction between the heaviest and lightest of a 'triad' of elements (three elements with similar chemical properties, now found in the same group of the modern periodic table) would produce the central element of the triad, the so-named 'Law of Averages'.
Preparation of iodine monochloride entails simply combining the halogens in a 1:1 molar ratio, according to the equation
- I2 + Cl2 → 2 ICl
When chlorine gas is passed through iodine crystals, one observes the brown vapor of iodine monochloride. Dark brown iodine monochloride liquid is collected. Excess chlorine converts iodine monochloride into iodine trichloride in a reversible reaction:
- ICl + Cl2 ICl3
Read more about Iodine Monochloride: Polymorphs, Uses
Famous quotes containing the word iodine:
“During Prohibition days, when South Carolina was actively advertising the iodine content of its vegetables, the Hell Hole brand of ‘liquid corn’ was notorious with its waggish slogan: ‘Not a Goiter in a Gallon.’”
—Administration in the State of Sout, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)