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There seems to be an inconsistency in the formula. Somewhere it is written as MOX and in some places, it is written as MXO. This is what Google gives when you search sodium hypochlorite:

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I think the formula of alkali hypohalite should be MOX because since the negative charge bears over the oxygen atom, it accepts the electron coming from the alkali metal ion and forms a duplet thus forming ionic bond.

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Is my assumption correct? What is the correct formula of alkali hypohalite?

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2 Answers 2

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I felt tempted to close this as a duplicate of the sodium acetate notation question, because of my answer there, but the question in itself does not ask the same thing, so I’ll just rewrite the relevant parts of my answer.

In short, there is no correct formula. Depending on which point you want to bring across, you can use either, and depending on the context, $\ce{ClNaO}$ may also be acceptable.


Structually, you are correct with your assumption; the oxygen bears the negative charge. But that doesn’t include any implication that the formula should be written that way; compare $\ce{SO4^2-}$ where the charge is also on the oxygen atoms and yet they come last.

In fact, that leads us to our first clue. By convention, oxygen atoms are typically written last; compare $\ce{ClO3- , ClO4- , BrO3-}$ and others. You could probably explain that with electronegativity, the convention being that electronegative elements come last. This assumption argues for $\ce{NaClO}$.

On the other hand, the corresponding acid $\ce{HOCl}$ is often understood as derived from water $\ce{HOH}$, replacing a hydrogen with a chlorine atom. From this starting point, it makes sense to write $\ce{NaOCl}$, because then you replaced the other hydrogen; this time with sodium. It also includes a resemblance to $\ce{NaOH}$.

Both ways can thus be supported by the reasons given above. In practice, I think I have always seen the substance being referred to as $\ce{NaOCl}$ but I could simply have ignored the occurances of $\ce{NaClO}$.

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    $\begingroup$ $\ce{ClNaO}$ is the Beilstein-type lookup formula and accepted whereever alphabetic ordering of elements is preferred/required. $\endgroup$
    – Jan
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 12:58
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Both formulae are correct. NaOX is correct structurally but preferred form is NaXO in correspondence with other series salts like Oxo-halate(III) NaXO2, Oxo-halate(V) NaXO3 and Oxo-halate(VII) NaXO4.

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  • $\begingroup$ I know both of them are correct but which one should be used? Explain with some reasoning. For ex- sodium chloride is also (incorrrectly) written as ClNa but that's not we use. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 12, 2016 at 3:32

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