CHEMICAL BONDING

What is a chemical bond?

A chemical bond is a chemical force that holds atoms together in a molecule or compound.

Lewis Dot formula: consists of the chemical symbol of an element and a dot for each valence
electron.
Important in keeping track of valence electron in a chemical reaction.

Something To Think About

Why do atoms form bonds?
________________________________________________________________

What is octet rule?

_________________________________________________________________________

Chemical bonds may be ionic or covalent.

Ionic Bond
Bond formed when electrons are transferred from one atom to another atom.
Electrical attraction between oppositely charged ions (cations and anions).
Bond formed when a metal(IA, IIA) reacts with a nonmetal(VIA, VIIA).
The higher the (EN) between a metal and a nonmetal, the more ionic the bond will be.

Example:

PRACTICE EXERCISES:

Use Lewis dot symbol to show the formation of:

1] aluminum oxide _______________________________________________________

2] magnesium nitride _______________________________________________________

3] barium hydride _______________________________________________________

Covalent Bond
is a chemical bond in which two or more electrons are shared by two atoms to reach a
noble gas configuration
bond formed when a nonmetal reacts with another nonmetal.

Example:

Page 1 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

+
Covalent bonds may classified as:

single bond: two atoms share one pair of electrons

Ex: F2, H2
double bond: two atoms share two pairs of electrons
Ex: O2, CO2

triple bond: two atoms share three pairs of electrons

Ex. N2

Bond length: distance between the nuclei of two covalently bonded atoms in a molecule.

single bond > double bond > triple bond

Bond strength: amount of energy necessary to break the bond

triple bond> double bond > single bond

bond length, bond strength

Covalent bonds may also be classified as:

Nonpolar
results from the equal sharing of electrons
arise when the two atoms joined together have almost the same electronegativity or very
little electronegativity difference,[(EN)].
Polar
results from the unequal sharing of electrons
arise when two atoms joined together have large (EN)
Note: The greater the (EN) between two atoms, the more polar the bond is.

Classification of Bonds by Difference in Electronegativity

(EN) Type of Bond
0-0.4 nonpolar
> 0.4-1.9 polar bond
Comparison of > 1.9 ionic bond Some General
Properties of Ionic Compounds
and Covalent Compounds

Ionic Compounds Covalent Compounds

1. They are solids with high melting points 1. They are gases, liquids, or solids
(typically >400oC). with low melting points (typically
<300oC).
2. Many are soluble in polar solvents such 2. Many are insoluble in polar solvents.
as water.
3. Most are insoluble in nonpolar solvents, 3. Most are soluble in nonpolar
such as hexane (C6H14) and carbon solvents, such as hexane (C6H14) and
tetrachloride (CCl4). carbon tetrachloride (CCl4).
4. Molten compounds conduct electricity 4. Liquid and molten compounds do
well because they contain mobile charged not conduct electricity.
particles (ions).
5. Aqueous solutions conduct electricity 5. Aqueous solutions are usually poor
well. conductors of electricity because most
do not contain charged particles.
6. They are often formed between two 6. They are often formed between two
elements with quite different elements with similar
Page 2 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

electronegativities, usually a metal and a electronegativities, usually nonmetals.

nonmetal.

Lewis Structure
Lewis structure shows how electron pairs are arranged within the molecule.

Guide To Writing Lewis Structure

1. Write the skeletal structure of the compound.

Central atom : with most number of unpaired electrons (higher covalency number)
: least electronegative element
H and F usually occupy terminal (end) positions.

2. Count the total number of valence electrons present.

for negatively charged ions, add 1 to the total number of valence electrons for each
negative charge.
for positively charged ions, subtract 1 to the total number of valence electrons for
each positive charge.

3. Draw a single covalent bond in between atoms.

4. Distribute the remaining electrons around the more electronegative element.

5. If the octet rule is not met for the central atom (except H), try double or triple bonds using
the lone pair from the surrounding atoms.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Write the Lewis structure for the following:

a) H2O d) CO2

b) CO32- e) SO2

c) NH4+ f) HCN

Formal Charge
the hypothetical charge on an atom or ion in a molecule or polyatomic ion
It helps us to write the correct Lewis structures

Formal Charge = group number [(number of bonds)+(number of unshared e-s)]

Choosing the correct Lewis Structure:

a. For neutral molecules, the Lewis structure in which there are no formal charges is
preferable.
b. Negative formal charges are most likely to occur on the more electronegative
elements.
c. Lewis structures with large formal charges are less plausible than those with
Page 3 of 9
small formal charges.
CHEMICAL BONDING

PRACTICE EXERCISES
Draw the Lewis structure of the following given and then assign the formal charges on each
atom.

1] SO42-

2] CH2O

3] NOCl

Resonance Forms: A concept in which two or more Lewis structures for the same
arrangement of atoms are used to describe the bonding in a molecule or ion.

+ -
O O O

- +
O O O

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Draw the resonance structure (including formal charges) for the following ions:

A] NO3-

Page 4 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

B] CO32-

EXCEPTIONS TO OCTET RULE

1] THE INCOMPLETE OCTET

Example: BF3

F B F

2] ODD ELECTRON MOLECULES

Example: NO

N O

3] THE EXPANDED OCTET (central atom with principal quantum number n>2)
Example: SF6

Page 5 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

Page 6 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

CHEMICAL BONDING II: MOLECULAR GEOMETRY AND

HYBRIDIZATION OF ATOMIC ORBITALS

VALENCE SHELL ELECTRON PAIR REPULSION MODEL

Predict the geometry of the molecule from the electrostatic repulsions
between the electron (bonding and nonbonding) pairs.

Assumption: a molecule adopts the geometry that minimizes the

repulsive force among a given number of electron pairs.

PREDICTING MOLECULAR GEOMETRY

1] Draw the Lewis structure for the molecule.

2] Count the number of lone pairs on the central atom and the number of atoms bonded to the
central atom.

3] Use VSEPR to predict the geometry of the molecule.

Page 7 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

Page 8 of 9
CHEMICAL BONDING

PRACTICE EXERCISES:

Determine the molecular geometry of the following:

1] ClF3 __________ 6] CS2 __________

2] ICl4- __________ 7] SiBr4 __________

3] OF2 __________ 8] NO3- ________________

4] AlCl4- __________ 9] SO2 __________

5] I3- __________ 10] XeF2 __________

DIPOLE MOMENT: quantitative measure of the polarity of the bond.

: product of the charge and the distance, r, between charges

=Qxr
Where: Q is the charge
r is the distance between charges
1D = 3.36 x 10-30 Cm

H F

BOND MOMENT: dipole moment due only to the two atoms bonded together.
: it has a magnitude and direction, hence it is a vector quantity.

The overall dipole of a molecule is the sum of its bond moments.

Diatomic molecules containing atoms of the same element (H2, O2, N2) do not have
dipole moments.

Diatomic molecules containing atom of different elements have dipole moments

(HCl, CO, NO)

The dipole moment of a molecule made up of three (3) or more atoms depends on
both the polarity and molecular geometry.

depends on a) polarity of the bond and b) molecular geometry.

Page 9 of 9