1.11 Halogens

Chlorine is familiar as the active ingredient in bleach and swimming pools. It is one of the halogens, a group of diatomic elements with similar chemical properties. On the periodic table the halogens form a single column: fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, along with two other elements that are radioactive and have such short half-lives that their chemistry hasn't been explored. All four of the stable halogens are usually monovalent, and fluorine is always monovalent.

We can treat the halogens as mutually interchangeable for purposes of organic chemistry, differing mainly in their size. They are capable of replacing hydrogen in organic compounds, forming halides.

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