Carbon–fluorine bond the molecule represented by CHX has a BDE of 115 kcal/mol for carbon–fluorine while values of 104.9, 83.7, 72.1, and 57.6 kcal/mol represent carbon–X bonds to hydrogen, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, respectively. The carbon–fluorine bond length is typically about 1.35 ångström (1.39 Å in fluoromethane). It is shorter than any other carbon–halogen bond, and shorter than single carbon–nitrogen and carbon–oxygen bonds, despite fluorine having a larger atomic mass. The short length of the bond can also be attributed to the ionic character/electrostatic attractions between the partial charges on carbon and fluorine. The carbon–fluorine bond length varies by several hundredths of
Chlorine its outer shell. Corresponding to periodic trends, it is intermediate in electronegativity between fluorine and bromine (F: 3.98, Cl: 3.16, Br: 2.96, I: 2.66), and is less reactive than fluorine and more reactive than bromine. It is also a weaker oxidising agent than fluorine, but a stronger one than bromine. Conversely, the chloride ion is a weaker reducing agent than bromide, but a stronger one than fluoride. It is intermediate in atomic radius between fluorine and bromine, and this leads to many of its atomic properties similarly continuing the trend from iodine to bromine upward, such as first ionisation energy,