Silver hypochlorite

Silver hypochlorite is a chemical compound with the chemical formula AgOCl (also written as AgClO). It is an ionic compound of silver and the polyatomic ion hypochlorite. The compound is very unstable and rapidly decomposes. It is the silver(I) salt of hypochlorous acid. The salt consists of silver(I) cations (Ag+) and hypochlorite cations (−OCl).

Synthesis

 * Bubbling chlorine through an aqueous suspension of silver oxide.
 * 2 Cl2 + Ag2O + H2O → 2 AgCl + 2 HOCl
 * 2 HOCl + Ag2O → H2O + 2 AgOCl


 * Reaction of hypochlorous acid with silver nitrate produces silver hypochlorite and nitric acid.


 * HOCl + AgNO3 → AgOCl + HNO3

Chemical properties
Silver hypochlorite is very unstable, and its solution will soon disproportionate into silver chlorate and silver chloride:


 * 3 AgOCl → AgClO3 + 2 AgCl

If the AgOCl solution is heated to 60 °C, it will rapidly disproportionate. Adding silver oxide stabilizes the solution.