HCl

Hydrogen chloride · Chlorane, Hydrochloric acid

Hydrogen chloride is a stable, insulating diatomic compound that serves as a vital precursor in the production of numerous industrial chemicals.

ClH
Crystal structure of HCl
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Hydrogen chloride

Hydrogen chloride is a fundamental inorganic compound that exists as a thermodynamically stable species. Its electronic character defines it as a wide-gap insulator, reflecting its strong covalent bonding and distinct chemical reactivity in various states of matter.

This compound is widely utilized across chemical manufacturing and industrial synthesis. Due to its high stability and well-documented structural behavior, it serves as a critical building block for producing a vast array of chlorine-based chemical products and reagents.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Hydrogen chloride, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

2.58–5.82 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

386
4 databases, 44 space groups
Uses

Applications

Where Hydrogen chloride is used.

Chemical synthesisMetal picklingFood processingProduction of vinyl chloridepH control
Intellectual Property

Patent Landscape

24 patents reference HCl or close compositional variants.

PatentTitleAssigneeGranted
11286170Processing of lithium containing material including HCl sparge
5215723Compact anhydrous HCl to aqueous HCl conversion system
4332684Process for treating an organic phase containing iron chloride, molybdenum chloride and HCl
4299606Recovery of HF and HCl from gaseous mixtures thereof
5958356Method for removal of moisture from gaseous HCl
4154809High efficiency chlorine dioxide production using HCl as acid and methanol addition
4210502Process for recovery of waste H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 and HCl
4830846Separation process for anhydrous HCl and HBr by thermal cleavage
4760207Recovery of ethylene, chlorine and HCl from vented waste gas from direct chlorination reactor
7736598Reactor and method for producing chlorine from HCl
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Hydrogen chloride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is HCl?

Hydrogen chloride is a stable, insulating diatomic compound that serves as a vital precursor in the production of numerous industrial chemicals.

More questions
What is HCl used for?
Hydrogen chloride (HCl) is used in chemical synthesis, metal pickling, food processing, production of vinyl chloride, and pH control.
What is the band gap of HCl?
Hydrogen chloride (HCl) has a DFT-computed band gap of 2.58–5.82 eV across 386 reported structures.
Is HCl a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 5.82 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is HCl thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Hydrogen chloride (HCl) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
How many polymorphs of HCl are known?
386 structures of HCl are reported across 4 databases, spanning 44 distinct space groups.
What elements does HCl contain?
Hydrogen chloride (HCl) contains Cl and H (2 elements).
Where does the data for HCl come from?
HCl data is cross-referenced from latticegraph.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a primary inorganic molecule, hydrogen chloride occupies a central role in chemical science. It is a highly characterized substance that serves as a benchmark for understanding simple diatomic bonding and reactivity patterns within the broader landscape of inorganic chemistry.

Data sources & attribution
  • latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform

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