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Topic 4: Bonding
Chemical bond chemical bonds are made by the interaction of valence electrons. A chemical
bond is like a connection between two atoms.
- Why do bonds form? Because the bond is lower energy, or more stable, than the two atoms
alone.
Electron transfer
A metal loses electrons and makes a cation (+ charge), and a nonmetal gains electrons to
make an anion (- charge), and an ionic bond forms.
Example: Sodium loses an electron, chlorine gains an electron, and an ionic bond forms.
A covalent bond is the electrostatic attraction of the positively charged nuclei for the shared pairs of
electrons. Example: in H2, each hydrogen atom gives one electron and share the two between them
to make a covalent bond.
Octet rule: Nonmetals form covalent bonds to fill their valence level. Noble gases already have a
filled valence level, so they dont usually form compounds.
Example: Carbon has a valence level of 2s2, 2p4. To get the valence configuration of neon, it needs
four more electrons. Therefore, carbon usually makes four bonds. Example: CH4
Dative bonds form when one atom donates both electron paris.
VSEPR Shape
Vocabulary:
Electronegativity values
Electronegativity
Polar bond
Polar molecule
Dipole moment
Nonpolar bonds
Atoms with no difference in electronegativity difference have no overall dipole. Example: hydrogen
molecule H-H
Polar bonds
Electronegativity increases up and to the right of the periodic table. Atoms with a larger difference
in electronegativity have a more polar bond.
Example: H-Cl
Cl is much more electronegative than H
Nonpolar Molecules
Consider carbon tetrachloride CCl4
The bond C-Cl is polar because chlorine is more electronegative than carbon.
The molecule, however, is non-polar because there is no overall dipole moment. CCl4 is
symmetrical and the polar bonds pull equally in each direction. The dipole cancels
Polar Molecules
To be a polar molecule, a molecule must
1. Have one or more polar bonds and
2. Be asymmetrical (see below)
If a molecule is symmetrical, the bond polarities cancel and it is therefore nonpolar. Symetrical
shapes: tetrahedral, trigonal bipyrimidal, octahedral, square planar. All other shapes are
asymmetrical.
If a molecule is asymmetrical, the bond polarities pull to one side of a molecule, it has an overall
dipole, and it is therefore polar. When they pull in opposite directions, it is usually nonpolar.
Drawing a dipole: Draw arrows over the H-F bond to show the direction of the negative charge.
Which is more electronegative H or Cl? F is. So F gets the partial negative charge and hydrogen
gets the partial positive charge.
When drawing a molecule for the IB exam, include nonbonding pairs, partial charges with the lower
case delta (), and the net dipole (for the whole molecule, not the individual bond polarities.)
The right molecule has C-Cl bonds that both pull down, which gives the molecule a strong overall
dipole moment.
Network solids
Carbon has three allotropes. Different structural arrangements of the same element are called
allotropes.
Diamond Giant molecular structure. Tetrahedral arrangement of carbon atoms
each carbon is bonded to four others. This very strong arrangement explains why
diamond has such a high melting and boiling point.
Graphite giant covalent. Each carbon is bonded to three other carbons, making
layers of hexagon shaped rings. Delocalized pi bonds of the sp2 hybridized carbon
atoms give a bond order of 1 1/3, so bond lengths are shorter than that of diamond.
These delocalized electrons allow graphite to conduct electricity. Why is graphite
less dense and softer than diamond? The layers are far apart and can slide easily
because there are only weak Van Der Waals forces between layers.
Fullerene a large sphere made of five and six-membered carbon rings like a soccer
ball. Sixty carbons (C60). Conducts better than diamond, not as well as graphite. It
can be reduced and form an anion. Addition reactions can happen. It is not a network
solid like graphite and diamond, it is a molecule, so it can dissolve in nonpolar
solvents.
Table1: Summary of the characteristics of the allotropes of carbon.
Electrical Delocalized
Allotrope Structure Bonding hardness
Conductivity electrons?
Giant Hard
Only
molecular, Poor because
Diamond covalent No
tetrahedral conductor it is a rigid
bonds
arrangement structure
Covlaent
Soft
Covalent bonds,
because
network, Van Der
Good layers
Graphite layers of Waals Yes
conductor can slide
hexogonal Forces
over each
rings between
other
layers
Soft
Molecule,
because
hexogon Does not Yes, less
C60
Fullerene and Covalent conduct as delocalized
molecules
(C60) pentagon bonds well as electrons
can slide
rings like a graphite than gaphite
over each
soccer ball
other
Also, double and triple bonds push strongly, so angles with a double bond will be bigger than
expected (except for linear molecules, which will be 180).
Resonance structures: When you can draw more than one Lewis structure for a molecule by
moving a double bond, it is called a resonance structure. The real bonding in a molecule with
resonance structures is some combination of all three structures.
Main point: This makes bond angles and lengths the same for bonds involved in resonance.
Example: In the nitrate ion (NO3-), there is not one double bond. Really, these electrons from the
double bond are delocalized (spread out) over all three N-O bonds. This means
Bond angles are all 120 degrees
All N-O bond lengths are equal
*Note: this is not the correct way to draw a Lewis structure for nitrate. Draw resonance structures as
shown above.
For resonance structures, the extra pi bonding electrons are equally spread around the molecule.
Example: In the nitrate ion (NO3-), there is not one double bond. Really, these pi electrons are
delocalized over all three N-O bonds. Each bond is not single or double. They have a bond order of
1 1/3.
Partial charges: + or - ( is the lowercase Greek letter Delta, in case you wanted to know. It is
not a funny s which is what my students think. Ask your history teacher who the Greeks were)
14.2 Hybridization
The valence level of carbon is 2s22p2. These 2s and 2p orbitals are atomic orbitals. When a carbon
atom makes a bond with another atom, the atomic orbitals mix and make new/different hybrid
orbitals. Only the valence orbitals hybridize.
Draw the electron diagram of the ground state valence electrons in carbon:
How does carbon make four bonds with only two unpaired electrons? One electron moves from the
2s to the empty 2p orbital so that there are four unpaired electrons. These orbitals now have the
same energy and are called sp3 hybrid orbitals. Arent they cute.
Hydrogen is the only atom that does not hybridize, since it only has one electron. When bonds form
in CH4, each hydrogen electron pairs with an electron from an sp3 orbital.
In CH4, we say the carbon atom is sp3 hybridized. There are four sp3 hybrid orbitals and they repel
each other to make 109.5 angles, as predicted by VSEPR.
Single bonds are made of sigma bonds ( bond). Sigma bonds form along the inter-nuclear axis.
Double bonds are made of one sigma bond and one pi bond ( bond). Triple bonds are made from
one sigma bond and two pi bonds. Pi bonds form the sideways interaction of two p orbitals. The
electrons in pi bonds are above and below the inter-nuclear axis.
CH4 has only single bonds, so they are all sigma bonds.
Example: NH3
Draw the Lewis dot structure:
Description: Three sp3 orbitals make sigma bonds with hydrogen, a pair of nonbonding
electrons is in the fourth sp3 orbital
Your turn: Answer the following for the molecule sulfur dihydride: SH2
a. Draw the Lewis structure:
Sulfur dihydride has _____ sigma bonds and ____ nonbonding pairs, so it needs four hybrid
orbitals.
___ s orbital and ____ p orbitals combine to make ___ hybrid orbitals. Two of
the orbitals are bonding orbitals. Two of the orbitals are _____________ orbitals.
Electrical conductivity - To conduct electricity, a substance must have delocalized electrons that
can move freely.
Volitility how easily a substance evaporates.
Stronger intermolecular forces = less volatile.
Strongest Boiling
Strength of
type of Type of and
attractive Hardness Example
attractive crystal melting
forces
force point
Nonpolar
molecules,
Weakest Van Der Waals Low Soft Ar, H2
group 8 atomic
gases
Dipole-dipole Polar H-Cl
Polar with H-N,
Hydrogen
H-F or H-O H2O
bonds
bonds
Covalent
Network solid C(graphite)
bonds
Metallic Bond Metals Cu
Ionic
Strongest Ionic Bond High Hard NaCl
compounds
Van Der Waals Forces (London, dispersion forces)
London dispersion forces hold group 8 atoms together in a solid. They are made by one atom
inducing a charge on another, so one side of the atom or molecule becomes partially positive and one
side becomes partially negative.
These molecules have the same number of carbon and hydrogen atoms,
but the branched molecule (2-methyl propane) has a lower boiling point.
Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isobutane-n-butane.png
Example: CH3CH3 has a higher melting point than CH4 because there are more electrons in
CH3CH3.
Dipole-dipole forces
Polar molecules
Dipole-dipole interactions become stronger with a larger difference in electronegativity. Dipole-
dipole interactions are stronger than London forces, but weaker than chemical bonds (covalent, ionic
or metallic).
Hydrogen Bonds: The strongest dipole dipole interactions are hydrogen bonds, which can be made
between a nonbonding electron pair and a hydrogen that is bonded to N, O or F. Note, this diagram
does not show the nonbonding pairs on oxygen, and that is WRONG. You should write nonbonding
pairs on all Lewis structures for the exam!
Image from: http://chemtools.chem.soton.ac.uk/projects/emalaria/index.php?page=13
4.4 Metalic bonding Metallic bonding is thought of as cations in a sea of delocalized electrons.
Example: Sodium, magnesium and aluminum are all metals. They have metallic bonding, in
which positive metal ions are attracted to delocalized electrons. Going from sodium to aluminum:
Electrical conductivity: metals can conduct electricity because they have many delocalized
electrons.
Metals are malleable and ductile. Malleable means metals can bend without breaking. Ductile
means they can be pulled into wires. Metals are malleable and ductile because there is attraction
between the cations and delocalized electrons, so layers of ions can slide past each other. The
cations are not attracted to each other.
Melting and boiling points Stronger IMFs = higher melting and boiling points. Why?
When a substance melts, some of the attractive forces holding the particles together are broken or
loosened so that the particles can move freely around each other but are still close together. The
stronger these forces are, the more energy is needed to overcome them and the higher the melting
temperature.
The same is true for boiling points. A substance with strong intermolecular forces will have a high
boiling point.
Conductivity
Ionic compounds can conduct when dissolved in a polar solvent or in the molten phase.
Polar liquids can conduct when strong electrolytes are dissolved.
Network solids: Graphite conducts. All others do not.
Metals: conduct
Nonpolar compounds cannot conduct because their electrons are kept in covalent bonds.
Solubility
Metals
Metals are soluble in other metals. A mixture of metals is called an alloy, which is made my mixing
the metals in the liquid phase and letting them freeze. Alloys are less malleable and ductile than
pure metals because the difference in size of the atoms prevents layers from sliding easily.
Ionic compounds
Ionic compounds are insoluble in most polar solvents because the ionic bonding is very strong in
ionic compounds. However, they are usually soluble in water because water is very polar (and
therefore the partial charges are very high in water.) The charges of ions are attracted to the partial
charges of atoms in a polar molecule. Refer to the solubility rules (that you memorized!) for which
compounds are soluble.