itself is not stable in isolation as it decomposes to form chlorine. Its decomposition also results in some form of oxygen. Reactions with ammonia Hypochlorites react with ammonia first giving monochloramine (), then dichloramine (), and finally nitrogen trichloride (). + → + Cl Cl + → + + → + Preparation Hypochlorite salts Hypochlorite salts formed by the reaction between chlorine and alkali and alkaline earth metal hydroxides. The reaction is performed at close to room temperature to suppress the formation of chlorates. This process is widely used for the industrial production of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) and calcium hypochlorite (Ca(ClO)2). Cl2 + 2 NaOH → NaCl + NaClO + H2O 2 Cl2 + 2 Ca(OH)2 → CaCl2 + Ca(ClO)2 + 2 H2O Large amounts of sodium hypochlorite are also produced electrochemically via an un-separated chloralkali process. In this process brine is electrolyzed to form which dissociates in water to form hypochlorite. This reaction must be conducted in non-acidic conditions to prevent release of chlorine: 2 → + 2 e− + + + Some hypochlorites may also be obtained by a salt metathesis reaction between calcium hypochlorite and various metal sulfates. This reaction is performed in water and relies on the formation of insoluble calcium sulfate, which will precipitate out of solution, driving the reaction to completion. Ca(ClO)2 + MSO4 → M(ClO)2 + CaSO4 Organic hypochlorites Hypochlorite esters are in general formed from the corresponding alcohols, by treatment with any of a number of reagents (e.g. chlorine, hypochlorous acid, dichlorine monoxide and various acidified hypochlorite salts). Biochemistry Biosynthesis of organochlorine compounds Chloroperoxidases are enzymes that catalyzes the chlorination of organic compounds. This enzyme combines the inorganic substrates chloride and hydrogen peroxide to produce the equivalent of Cl+, which replaces a proton in hydrocarbon substrate: R-H + Cl− + H2O2 + H+ → R-Cl + 2 H2O The source of "Cl+" is hypochlorous acid (HOCl). Many organochlorine compounds are biosynthesized in this way. Immune response In response to infection, the human immune system generates minute quantities of hypochlorite within special white blood cells, called neutrophil granulocytes. These granulocytes engulf viruses and bacteria in an intracellular vacuole called the phagosome, where they are digested. Part of the digestion mechanism involves an enzyme-mediated respiratory burst, which produces reactive oxygen-derived compounds, including superoxide (which is produced by NADPH oxidase). Superoxide decays to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, which is used in a myeloperoxidase-catalysed reaction to