SnCl2 Lewis Structure in 5 Steps (With Images)

So you have seen the above image by now, right?

Let me explain the above image in short.

SnCl2 lewis structure has a Tin atom (Sn) at the center which is surrounded by two Chlorine atoms (Cl). There are 2 single bonds between the Tin atom (Sn) and each Chlorine atom (Cl). There is 1 lone pair on Tin atom (Sn) and 3 lone pairs on both the Chlorine atoms (Cl).

If you haven’t understood anything from the above image of SnCl2 lewis structure, then just stick with me and you will get the detailed step by step explanation on drawing a lewis structure of SnCl2.

So let’s move to the steps of drawing the lewis structure of SnCl2.

Steps of drawing SnCl2 lewis structure

Step 1: Find the total valence electrons in SnCl2 molecule

In order to find the total valence electrons in a SnCl2 molecule, first of all you should know the valence electrons present in the tin atom as well as chlorine atom.
(Valence electrons are the electrons that are present in the outermost orbit of any atom.)

Here, I’ll tell you how you can easily find the valence electrons of tin as well as chlorine using a periodic table.

Total valence electrons in SnCl2 molecule

→ Valence electrons given by tin atom:

Tin is a group 14 element on the periodic table. ^[1] Hence the valence electrons present in tin is 4.

You can see the 4 valence electrons present in the tin atom as shown in the above image.

→ Valence electrons given by chlorine atom:

Chlorine is group 17 element on the periodic table. ^[2] Hence the valence electrons present in chlorine is 7.

You can see the 7 valence electrons present in the chlorine atom as shown in the above image.

Hence, 

Total valence electrons in SnCl2 molecule = valence electrons given by 1 tin atom + valence electrons given by 2 chlorine atoms = 4 + 7(2) = 18.

Step 2: Select the central atom

For selecting the center atom, you have to remember that the atom which is less electronegative remains at the center.

Now here the given molecule is SnCl2 and it contains tin atom (Sn) and chlorine atoms (Cl).

You can see the electronegativity values of tin atom (Sn) and chlorine atom (Cl) in the above periodic table.

If we compare the electronegativity values of tin (Sn) and chlorine (Cl) then the tin atom is less electronegative.

So here the tin atom (Sn) is the center atom and the chlorine atoms (Cl) are the outside atoms.

Step 3: Connect each atoms by putting an electron pair between them

Now in the SnCl2 molecule, you have to put the electron pairs between the tin atom (Sn) and chlorine atoms (Cl).

This indicates that the tin (Sn) and chlorine (Cl) are chemically bonded with each other in a SnCl2 molecule.

Step 4: Make the outer atoms stable. Place the remaining valence electrons pair on the central atom.

Now in this step, you have to check the stability of the outer atoms.

Here in the sketch of SnCl2 molecule, you can see that the outer atoms are chlorine atoms.

These outer chlorine atoms are forming an octet and hence they are stable.

Also, in step 1 we have calculated the total number of valence electrons present in the SnCl2 molecule.

The SnCl2 molecule has a total 18 valence electrons and out of these, only 16 valence electrons are used in the above sketch.

So the number of electrons which are left = 18 – 16 = 2.

You have to put these 2 electrons on the central tin atom in the above sketch of SnCl2 molecule.

Now let’s proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Check the stability of lewis structure

Now you have come to the final step in which you have to check the stability of lewis structure of SnCl2.

The stability of lewis structure can be checked by using a concept of formal charge.

In short, now you have to find the formal charge on tin (Sn) atom as well as chlorine (Cl) atoms present in the SnCl2 molecule.

For calculating the formal charge, you have to use the following formula;

Formal charge = Valence electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 – Nonbonding electrons

You can see the number of bonding electrons and nonbonding electrons for each atom of SnCl2 molecule in the image given below.

For Tin (Sn) atom:
Valence electrons = 4 (because tin is in group 14)
Bonding electrons = 4
Nonbonding electrons = 2

For Chlorine (Cl) atom:
Valence electron = 7 (because chlorine is in group 17)
Bonding electrons = 2
Nonbonding electrons = 6

Formal charge	=	Valence electrons	–	(Bonding electrons)/2	–	Nonbonding electrons
Sn	=	4	–	4/2	–	2	=	0
Cl	=	7	–	2/2	–	6	=	0

From the above calculations of formal charge, you can see that the tin (Sn) atom as well as chlorine (Cl) atom has a “zero” formal charge.

This indicates that the above lewis structure of SnCl2 is stable and there is no further change in the above structure of SnCl2.

In the above lewis dot structure of SnCl2, you can also represent each bonding electron pair (:) as a single bond (|). By doing so, you will get the following lewis structure of SnCl2.

I hope you have completely understood all the above steps.

For more practice and better understanding, you can try other lewis structures listed below.

Try (or at least See) these lewis structures for better understanding:

NHF2 Lewis Structure	BrCN Lewis Structure
BeI2 Lewis Structure	CHBr3 Lewis Structure
SiCl2Br2 Lewis Structure	SbF5 Lewis Structure