It is a chemical compound that contains nitrogen and three chloride atoms. Since the elements forming the compound, nitrogen and chlorine, are both non-metals, the compound is molecular. The compound is not ionic because ionic compounds are formed by the bonding between metals and non-metals.

Is NCl3 a ionic or covalent bond?

The compound NCl3 is an ionic compound (metal and nonmetal), and therefore does not require prefixes- -so NCl3 is nitrogen trichloride.

Why is NCl3 covalent?

NCl3 is a slightly polar molecule because of the small difference between the electronegativity of nitrogen and chlorine atom. The chlorine atoms surround the nitrogen atom to get covalently bonded with it. The valence electrons in the outermost shell of Nitrogen are 5 and that of chlorine is 7.

Nitrogen chloride (NCl3), also known as [NCL3] or agene, belongs to the class of inorganic compounds known as halogen nitrides.