Chlorine Chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine is a yellow-green gas at room temperature. It is an extremely reactive element and a strong oxidising agent: among the elements, it has the highest electron affinity and the third-highest electronegativity, behind only oxygen and fluorine. The most common compound of chlorine, sodium chloride (common salt), has been known since ancient times. Around 1630, chlorine gas was first synthesised in a chemical reaction,
Chlorine pentafluoride with water to produce chloryl fluoride and hydrogen fluoride: It is also a strong fluorinating agent. At room temperature it reacts readily with all elements (including otherwise "inert" elements like platinum and gold) except noble gases, nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine. Chlorine pentafluoride Chlorine pentafluoride is an interhalogen compound with formula ClF. This colourless gas is a strong oxidant that was once a candidate oxidizer for rockets. The molecule adopts a square pyramidal structure with C symmetry, as confirmed by its high-resolution F NMR spectrum. Some of the earliest research on the preparation was classified. It was first prepared by fluorination