Hypochlorite
hypochlorite is an anion with the chemical formula ClO−. It combines with a number of cations to form hypochlorites, which may also be regarded as the salts of hypochlorous acid. Common examples include sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) and calcium hypochlorite (a component of bleaching powder, swimming pool “chlorine”).[1]
The name can also refer to esters of the hypothetical hypochlorous acid, namely organic compounds with a ClO– group covalently bound to the rest of the molecule. The principal example is tert-butyl hypochlorite, which is a useful chlorinating agent.[2]
Most hypochlorite salts are unstable in their pure forms, and are normally handled as aqueous solutions. Their primary applications are as bleaching, disinfection, and water treatment agents, but they are also used in chemistry for chlorination and oxidation reactions.