Answer to Question #53474 in Inorganic Chemistry for Najirul Haq

Question

HgI2 is less soluble thanHgCl2 in water

Answer 1

It is conditioned by the character of Hg-Hal bond. For HgI2, the bond has more covalent character than for HgCl2. This can be explained by the decrease in difference between the electronegativities for Hg and halogen. As known, elctronegativity reduces from F to I in the main group, which is associated with an increase in radius and the number of completed electronic levels.