Question
Account for the following:
H3PO2 and H3PO3 acts as good reducing agents while H3PO4 does not.
Solution
in H3PO2 and H3PO3 , 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 hydrogen atom respectively are bonded to phoshorous atom. But in the case of H3PO4 , there is no hydrogen atom bonded to phosphorous atom. So, the oxidation state is lower in H3PO2 in comperision to H3PO4 so it is not a reducing agent.
