What is Aluminum Chloride (AlCl3)?
Aluminum chloride is also sometimes referred to as aluminium trichloride or aluminium (III) chloride. The compound is formed when aluminium and chlorine are reacted together. Its chemical formula is written as AlCl3. As for physical appearance, Aluminum chloride is usually white. However, due to the presence of contaminants (iron(III) chloride), it acquires a yellowish colour.
Industrially, aluminum chloride formula is used in the production of aluminium metal, but it also has a wide number of uses in the chemical industry particularly as a Lewis acid. Solid aluminum chloride (AlCl3) is covalently bonded with low melting as well as boiling point. The first discovery of Aluminum chloride was done in the year 1825 by a Danish physicist and chemist named Hans Christian Oersted. This chemical compound is one of the oldest chemicals used especially in the branch of organic chemistry. We will learn about this compound in detail below.

Preparation of Aluminum Chloride
Aluminum chloride is mainly produced using an exothermic reaction of two elements namely aluminium and chlorine. There are several other ways in which aluminum chloride formula can be obtained. Some common ways are by reacting the aluminium metal with hydrogen chloride or by conducting a single displacement reaction between copper chloride and aluminium metal.

Aluminum Chloride Structure
When we talk about the structure of AlCl3 it is sometimes confusing. This chemical compound tends to form different types of structures when it is exposed to varying temperatures. It also depends on the state of the compound whether it is in a solid, liquid or gaseous state.
When AlCl3 is in solid-state it features a cubic close-packed layered structure. In this case, its coordination geometry will be octahedral. When aluminum chloride formula is in a liquid or molten state it exists as a dimer. Here its coordination geometry will be tetrahedral. At higher temperatures, the dimers dissociate into trigonal planar.