Why is Lithium Chloride (LiCl) soluble in alcohols?

According do J.D. Lee's Concise Inorganic Chemistry, LiCl is soluble in alcohols because it has some covalent nature, althought it is mainly polar.


Why would LiCl have covalent character? Why doesn't this happen to NaCl?


Also, is this explanation true? A friend of mine said this solubility was because of the polar nature of small alcohols. Which of them is right?




The covalent character of any compound can be predicted on the basis of [Fajans' Rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajans%27_rules).


Fajans' Rule, simply stated, says that a smaller cation can polarize a given anion better than a larger cation and that larger anions are more polarizable than smaller anions.


$\ce{Li+}$ being a small cation polarizes $\ce{Cl-}$ to a good extent and since any amount of polarization increases the covalent character of a compound, $\ce{LiCl}$ can be said to have some covalent nature.


$\ce{LiCl}$ being somewhat covalent dissolves in organic solvents(Remember, Like dissolves Like) such as ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate and pyridine.


Further, since $\ce{Na+}$ is unable to polarize $\ce{Cl-}$ to a good degree it is regarded mainly as an ionic compound.


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