Tin chloride (stannous chloride) is a white crystal

Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...

line solid with the formula ₂. It forms a stable dihydrate, but aqueous solutions tend to undergo hydrolysis

Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water are split into hydrogen cations and hydroxide anions in the process of a chemical mechanism. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by condensation polymerization...

, particularly if hot. SnCl₂ is widely used as a reducing agent

Redox

Redox reactions describe all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed....

 (in acid solution), and in electrolytic

Electrolysis

In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...

 baths for tin-plating

Electroplating

Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode. The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal...

. Tin(II) chloride should not be confused with the other chloride of tin; tin(IV) chloride

Tin(IV) chloride

Tin chloride, also known as tin tetrachloride or stannic chloride is a chemical compound with the formula SnCl4.At room temperature it is a colourless liquid, which fumes on contact with air, giving a stinging odor...

 or stannic chloride (SnCl₄).
SnCl₂ has a lone pair

Lone pair

In chemistry, a lone pair is a valence electron pair without bonding or sharing with other atoms. They are found in the outermost electron shell of an atom, so lone pairs are a subset of a molecule's valence electrons...

 of electron

Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...

s, such that the molecule in the gas phase is bent.