Phosphorus Trichloride (PCl3)

Trigonal pyramidal; lone pair on P makes it polar. Teaching note: figures illustrate qualitative electronic structure; quantitative benchmarking should use larger bases, dispersion, and experimental structures.

Geometry
Trigonal pyramidal
Polarity
Polar
Bond angle
~100°
Hybridisation
sp3
VSEPR
AX3E1
Bonds
3 P–Cl σ bonds · 1 lone pair
Molecular orbitals
26 valence electrons; 3 P–Cl σ bonds + 1 lone pair on P.
SMILES
P(Cl)(Cl)Cl

Electron density: spin-paired GPAW (PBE) on an isolated gas-phase geometry; molecular orbitals: restricted mean-field RHF with sto-3g in PySCF unless noted.

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