mosco z - 15-2-2014 at 06:20
Please why is it that amongst reducing agents that re compounds of tin,sncl2 is the strongest.stronger than sncl4 which is higher than it and stronger
than snclo2 snh4 and the likes that are below it?.is it because sncl4 is unstable?Thank you.
blogfast25 - 15-2-2014 at 06:48
Please use proper symbols. In chemistry 'sncl2' means very little.
I'm guessing you mean SnCl<sub>2</sub>. It's a reducing agent because it can shed two electrons easily to an electron recipient (an
oxidising agent):
Sn<sup>2+</sup> === > Sn<sup>4+</sup> + 2 e (simply put)
Sn<sup>4+</sup> however cannot lose any more electrons and thus SnCl<sub>4</sub> is not a reducing agent, instead it's a mild
oxidising agent.