How many hybrid orbitals are present in the molecule PCl5?

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Answer 1 · 2014-05-24T18:51:03

There are no atomic hybrid orbitals in " $PCl"_5$ .

A better question might be, "How many hybrid orbitals does a $"P"$ atom use when it forms a molecule of $"PCl"_5$ ?

VSEPR theory predicts that $"PCl"_5$ should have a trigonal bipyramidal structure, which corresponds to an $"sp"^3"d"$ hybridization.

www.chemistryland.com
(Adapted from SlidePlayer)

The $"P"$ atom has five hybridized orbitals.

We usually show the $"P-Cl"$ bond as being formed by the overlap of a phosphorus $"sp"^3"d"$ orbital with a \chlorine $"3p"$ orbital.

Overlap
(Adapted from SlidePlayer)

However, once a $"P-Cl$ bond has formed, the original atomic orbitals no longer exist.

They have become σ molecular orbitals.

Thus, the $"PCl"_5$ molecule has no hybridized atomic orbitals.