ABSTRACT
Fluorine is the most active of the commonly found elements. The only stable oxidation state in water is -1. The oxides F2O and F2O2 have both been prepared. They are powerful oxidizing agents and the potential for the reduction of the monoxide has been calculated by Latimer. The better known oxidation numbers of chlorine in its compounds are -1 for hydrochloric acid and its salts, the chlorides; +1 for the oxide Cl2O, the corresponding hypochlorous acid, and its salts, the hypochlorites. The oxides ClO, Cl2O3, and Cl2O6 are also described but either as intermediate products in certain reactions or as unstable compounds whose chemistry is rather uncertain. In practice, the industrial production of chlorates starts from the electrolysis of chlorides which are oxidized to chlorine, which in turn readily disproportionates to hypochlorous acid and chloride ion as intermediate steps. romic acid is a faster oxidizing agent than chloric acid, and in strongly acid solutions it oxidizes water to oxygen.
