TeCl4 Lewis structure

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TeCl₄ (tellurium tetrachloride) has one tellurium atom and four chlorine atoms.

In the TeCl₄ Lewis structure, there are four single bonds around the tellurium atom, with four chlorine atoms attached to it. Each chlorine atom has three lone pairs, and the tellurium atom has one lone pair.

Steps

Use these steps to correctly draw the TeCl₄ Lewis structure:

#1 First draw a rough sketch
#2 Mark lone pairs on the atoms
#3 Calculate and mark formal charges on the atoms, if required

Let’s discuss each step in more detail.

#1 First draw a rough sketch

• First, determine the total number of valence electrons

In the periodic table, tellurium lies in group 16, and chlorine lies in group 17.

Hence, tellurium has six valence electrons and chlorine has seven valence electrons.

Since TeCl₄ has one tellurium atom and four chlorine atoms, so…

Valence electrons of one tellurium atom = 6 × 1 = 6
Valence electrons of four chlorine atoms = 7 × 4 = 28

And the total valence electrons = 6 + 28 = 34

Learn how to find: Tellurium valence electrons and Chlorine valence electrons

• Second, find the total electron pairs

We have a total of 34 valence electrons. And when we divide this value by two, we get the value of total electron pairs.

Total electron pairs = total valence electrons ÷ 2

So the total electron pairs = 34 ÷ 2 = 17

• Third, determine the central atom

We have to place the least electronegative atom at the center.

Since tellurium is less electronegative than chlorine, assume that the central atom is tellurium.

Therefore, place tellurium in the center and chlorines on either side.

• And finally, draw the rough sketch

#2 Mark lone pairs on the atoms

Here, we have a total of 17 electron pairs. And four Te — Cl bonds are already marked. So we have to only mark the remaining thirteen electron pairs as lone pairs on the sketch.

Also remember that tellurium is a period 5 element, so it can keep more than 8 electrons in its last shell. And chlorine is a period 3 element, so it can keep more than 8 electrons in its last shell.

Always start to mark the lone pairs from outside atoms. Here, the outside atoms are chlorines.

So for each chlorine, there are three lone pairs, and for tellurium, there is one lone pair.

Mark the lone pairs on the sketch as follows:

#3 Calculate and mark formal charges on the atoms, if required

Use the following formula to calculate the formal charges on atoms:

Formal charge = valence electrons – nonbonding electrons – ½ bonding electrons

For tellurium atom, formal charge = 6 – 2 – ½ (8) = 0

For each chlorine atom, formal charge = 7 – 6 – ½ (2) = 0

Here, both tellurium and chlorine atoms do not have charges, so no need to mark the charges.

In the above structure, you can see that the central atom (tellurium) forms an octet. And the outside atoms (chlorines) also form an octet. Hence, the octet rule is satisfied.

Therefore, this structure is the stable Lewis structure of TeCl₄.

Next: SF₅^– Lewis structure

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