Q40 of 53 Page 130

What is the structure of BeCl2 molecule in gaseous and solid state?

Beryllium chloride is covalent in nature.


The structure of BeCl2 in solid state is a polymeric chain structure and each Be atom is surrounded by four Cl atoms. Two Cl atoms are covalently bonded and two are bonded by coordinate bonds. The gaseous/vapour state is different than the solid state. BeCl2 tends to form a chloro-bridged dimer at temperatures below 1200K and dissociates into a linear monomer at high temperatures of the order of 1200 K.


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