CHAPTER 10
Chemical Bonding
Types of Bonds
“Intermolecular forces” are attractive forces between molecules
“Intramolecular forces” hold atoms together in a molecule
Intermolecular vs Intramolecular
41 kJ to vaporize 1 mole of water (inter)
930 kJ to break all O-H bonds in 1 mole of water (intra)
Generally, intermolecular forces are much weaker than intramolecular forces
Types of bonds
Chemical bond
• A force that holds atoms together
in a molecule or compound
Two types of chemical bonds
• Ionic Bonds
• Covalent Bonds
Ionic and Covalent
• In ionic compounds,
ions are held together
by electrostatic forces –
forces between
oppositely charged ions
• In molecular
compounds, atoms are
held together by
covalent bonds in which
electrons are shared
Ionic Bonds
• A bond created by electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions
• Occurs between a metal and a nonmetal
• Electrons transferred between the cation (positively charged ion) and the anion
(negatively charged ion)
• Extremely strong bonds
• “Labile” or “promiscuous” bonds
• Metals lose electrons, forming a positive charge, to become cations
• Nonmetals gain electrons, forming a negative charge, to become
anions.
• Formation of ions and ionic bonds relates to an element’s electron
configuration
• Many main-group elements either lose or gain electrons to become
isoelectronic with a noble gas (i.e. have the same electron
configuration); as ions, they are known as the common ions
Covalent Bonds
• A bond created by the sharing of electrons between atoms
• Occurs between two nonmetals
• Electrons typically shared in pairs
• Weaker bonds than ionic bonds
• Atom-specific
Polarity
• The degree of transfer of electrons in a covalently bonded molecule
composed of different element’s atoms
• Some elements are more electronegative, so they pull the electrons
Polar vs. Nonpolar
Polar Covalent Nonpolar covalent
• Unequal sharing (or a partial transfer) • Equal sharing (no transfer) of
of electrons electrons
• Occurs when different elements are • Occurs only when all of the atoms in a
covalently bonded to one another molecule belong to the same element
• Why different elements? • Some elements with similar
electronegativities have mostly-nonpolar
• Typically shorter bonds bonds
• Stronger bonds due to their increased • Ex: C-H bonds are functionally nonpolar
ionic character • Typically longer bonds
• Weaker bonds
Dipole Moment
𝛿 (small Greek delta) means “partial”
𝛿+ “partially positive”
𝛿- “partially negative”
• Arrow points toward negative side
(more electronegative)
• Cross is at the positive side
• Dipole moments have magnitude
and direction
Electronegativity Trends
Which of the following molecules have polar bonds? If a bond
is polar, which atom has a partial negative charge?
1. SO2
2. N2
3. H2S
4. CCl4
Lewis Dot Structure
Valence Electrons
• “Valence electrons” are the
electrons in the outermost shell
of any given atom
• All electrons at that energy level
are valence electrons
• Valence electrons are the
electrons that participate in
chemical bonding
• A transition metal always has
two valence electrons. Why?
Ionic Bonds
• hold ions together in an ionic compound (formed by a metal and a
non-metal)
Covalent Bonds
• A bond in which electrons are
shared
• Because the bonding electrons
are always in the valence shell,
the valences overlap
• It’s covalent like people can be
coparents
Lengths of Covalent Bonds
• Bond length depends on the size of the elements
• Bond length gets shorter with more bonds
• Triple bond < Double < Single
• The shorter the length, the stronger the bond
Steps for Writing Lewis Structures
1. Write an atomic skeleton
2. Place all the valence electrons
3. Connect two singlet electrons to make a single bond
4. Check to see if the valence is filled
• All elements EXCEPT H, He, Li, and Be want to have 8 electrons in their
valence; this is called the “Octet Rule”
• If the valence if filled, good job! You’re done.
• If the valence is not filled, try a double-bond or electron transfer
• Keep going until all atoms have filled valences!
Vocabulary
“Resonance”
• Same formula, different electron location
“Isomers”
• Same formula, different atom location
Exceptions to the Octet Rule
• Molecules with an odd number of electrons
• Example: NO
• Molecules with incomplete octets
• Examples: BH3 or BF3
• Molecules with expanded octets
• Examples: SF4 or SF6
Formal Charge
• Formal charge = number of
valence electrons - (number of
lone-pair electrons + ½ number
of bonding electrons)
• "lone pair electrons" are also
known as "nonbonding pairs" or
"unshared pairs"
• The sum of formal charges of the
Lewis structure of a molecule or
ion must be equal to the net
charge on that molecule or ion
Using Formal Charge
• Having zero formal charge means it has the right amount of electrons
for that element
• Negative formal charge = excess electrons
• Positive formal charge = missing electrons
• In case of non-zero formal charge
• More electronegative elements = negative formal charge
• Less electronegative elements = positive formal charge
Shapes of
Molecules
Valence-Shell Electron-Pair Repulsion Theory
(VSEPR theory)
• Real molecules are not flat on a piece of paper,
they are 3-dimensionsal
• VESPR theory allows use of Lewis-dot structures
to predict the 3D shape of a molecule
• Based on the fact that negative charges repel
one another
• Valence electron pairs (bonding or nonbonding)
repel one another and take up positions that
maximize their distance and angles between them
Change in Bond Angle
• Lone pairs push the other
electrons away
• There’s no proton on the other
end of a lone pair, so they exert
more ‘pressure’ than a bonding
pair of electrons
• A shorter bond pushes the other
electrons more strongly
• Larger elements pushe the
smaller elements
Electronegativity in Molecular Bonding
• “Polar covalent bonds”, or “polar bonds” for short, are covalent
bonds with greater electron density around one of the two atoms
• This occurs due to uneven electronegativity
Electronegativity Differences
• If one element has much
stronger electronegativity, it will
just take away the electron from
the other element (transfer of e-)
• Example: fluorine tends to just
steal electrons
• When they have similar
electronegativity, atoms will
share that electron instead
Net Dipole
• Sum of dipole moments of the
molecule = net dipole
• Added in both magnitude and
direction
• A molecule can have a polar
bond, but if the directions are
opposite the magnitudes may
end up cancelling out