White phosphorus reacts with thionyl chloride to give ______.

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White phosphorus reacts with thionyl chloride to give PCl3, SO2 and S2Cl2. Explanation: White phosphorus (P4) reacts with thionyl chloride (SOCl2) to form phosphorus trichloride (PCl3) along with the by-products sulphur dioxide (SO2) and disulphur dichloride (S2Cl2): \ce{P4 + 8SOCl2 -> 4PCl3 + 4SO2 + 2S2Cl2} This reaction shows that phosphorus undergoes chlorination and oxidation simultaneously.

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