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JEE Advanced 2018 Paper 1 · Chemistry · Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure · easy

Among the following species, the number that are planar (all atoms in one plane) and have at least two lone pairs of electrons on the central atom is…

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Among the following species, the number that are planar (all atoms in one plane) and have at least two lone pairs of electrons on the central atom is ______. XeF4, SF4, ClF3, I3−, BrF5, XeO3, PCl5, XeOF4, ICl4−\mathrm{XeF_4,\ SF_4,\ ClF_3,\ I_3^-,\ BrF_5,\ XeO_3,\ PCl_5,\ XeOF_4,\ ICl_4^-}
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Answer: 4

Use VSEPR with the steric number. XeF4\mathrm{XeF_4} (4 bp + 2 lp, octahedral parent) is square planar, with two lone pairs. ClF3\mathrm{ClF_3} (3 bp + 2 lp, trigonal bipyramidal parent) is T-shaped, with both lone pairs equatorial, so the molecule is planar. I3−\mathrm{I_3^-} (2 bp + 3 lp) is linear, which is trivially planar with three lone pairs. ICl4−\mathrm{ICl_4^-} (4 bp + 2 lp) is square planar. SF4\mathrm{SF_4} (see-saw) has one lone pair and is non-planar. BrF5\mathrm{BrF_5} and XeOF4\mathrm{XeOF_4} are square pyramidal with one lone pair, XeO3\mathrm{XeO_3} is pyramidal with one lone pair, and PCl5\mathrm{PCl_5} has none. The count is therefore 4.
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