chlorate n : any salt of chloric acid

English

Noun

1. any salt of chloric acid; chlorates are powerful oxidizing agents

Translations

• Italian: clorato

Derived terms

• ammonium chlorate
• chlorate of potash
• hydrogen chlorate
• magnesium chlorate
• perchlorate
• potassium chlorate
• sodium chlorate

Related terms

• chloric

See also

• chloride
• hypochlorite

The chlorate anion has the formula ClO3−. In this case, the chlorine atom is in the +5 oxidation state. "Chlorate" can also refer to chemical compounds containing this anion; chlorates are the salts of chloric acid. As predicted by VSEPR, chlorate anions have trigonal pyrimidal structures.

Chlorates are powerful oxidizers and should be kept away from organics or easily oxidized materials. Chlorates were once widely used in pyrotechnics, though their use has fallen due to their instability. Most pyrotechnic applications which used chlorates in the past now use perchlorates instead.

Examples of chlorates include:

• potassium chlorate, KClO3
• sodium chlorate, NaClO3
• magnesium chlorate, Mg(ClO3)2

Preparation

Metal chlorates can be prepared by adding chlorine to hot metal hydroxides, for example, KClO3:

3Cl2 + 6KOH → 5KCl + KClO3 + 3H2O

The industrial scale synthesis for sodium chlorate starts from sodium chloride.