JEE Advanced levelSingle correct optionDifficulty 3 of 3cb018
Nitryl chloride, NOX2Cl, has N as the central atom bonded to Cl, to one O by a double bond and to the other O by a single bond. Considering a Lewis structure in which every atom obeys the octet, the total number of lone pairs and the number of atoms carrying a non-zero formal charge are, respectively,
A7 and 2
B8 and 2
C9 and 2
D8 and 0
Answer: B
Octet on N (4 bonds) forces N to be +1 and the singly bonded O to be −1. Lone pairs: =O has 2, O− has 3, Cl has 3, N has 0, total 8. Only N and O− carry non-zero charge, i.e. 2 atoms.