Can an oxidising/reducing agent oxidise/reduce itself? [closed]








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I am new to the study of this divine science. So Just a query: Can an oxidising/reducing agent oxidise/reduce itself? **If it can can anyone give an example and explain it?**




A simple example can be the disproportionation of chlorine when bubbling a current of chlorine gas $\ce{Cl2}$ into a solution of $\ce{NaOH}$ (containing $\ce{OH^-}$ ions):
$$\ce{Cl2 + 2 OH^- -> ClO^- + Cl^- + H2O}$$
Here the chlorine atoms have the oxidation number equal to zero in the reactants, and get the final oxidation number $-1$ in $\ce{Cl^-}$ and $+1$ in $\ce{ClO^-}$. Here one of the $2$ original $\ce{Cl}$ atoms oxidises the other one from $0$ to $+1$. In this operation it is reduced fro $0$ to $-1$.


The final solution is the famous bleach, used for cleaning dirty surfaces.


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