6 Chemical Bonding

a) Lewis structure
b) Ionic bonding
c) Covalent bonding
d) Metallic bonding
e) VSEPR-model
f) VB-theory
6 Chemical bonding: a) Lewis structure
• Chemical bonds decide on material properties
• Consider only valence electrons
• Lewis symbol: valence electrons represented by dots
.. .. ..
e. g. : Cl . → :Cl―Cl
.. .. .. :

• Lewis structure: electron pair represented as line

• Octet rule: seek for 8 valence electrons (“filled shells“)
e. g. Cl⁻, O²⁻, Al³⁺, …
6 Chemical bonding: b) ionic bond
• Attraction of oppositely charged ions
Q₁ * Q₂
• Coulomb energy: E = 4 p e₀ d Q: charge, d: distance of nuclei
• Consider reaction enthalpy:
creating positive charge requires energy (Ch. 7)
creating negative charge typically releases energy (Ch. 7)
in total: negative energy resulting

• Example: Na + ½ Cl₂ → NaCl

Born-Haber-cycle (remember Hess‘s law!)
 6 Chemical bonding:
b) ionic bond
lattice energy:
required energy to separate 1 mol
of solid into gaseous ions

ionic compounds are typically easy

to crystallize, have high degree of
order, and high melting points
6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
• Covalent bonds generally weaker, gaseous/liquid substances, low
melting points
• Among non-metals there is no possibility to reach noble gas
configuration by electron donation and electron uptake
solution: electrons used by two atoms together
• physically: still attraction of electrons and nuclei
• quantum-mechanically: consider combination of atomic orbitals:
LCAO-MO (linear combination of atomic orbitals to molecular orbitals)

n atomic orbitals make n molecular orbitals

6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
Combination of two 1s-orbitals from hydrogen atoms a and b
radial function:
ya + yb ya - yb
node

bonding antibonding
 6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
molecular orbitals:
from s-orbitals: from p-orbitals: s s*

s*

bonding MO antibonding MO

s bonding MO antibonding MO
p p*
6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
Energy: MO-diagram:

H₂ N₂ O₂

bond order (BO): BO = ½ (# bonding – # antibonding electrons)

6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
• Lewis structures – examples

H―H Cl―Cl O―
―O* N――N
single bond double bond triple bond
• the more bonds, the stronger the bond and the shorter bond distance
N―N 147 pm
N―
―N 124 pm
N――N 110 pm
• approach:
count electrons, first single bonds, fulfill octet rule, if necessary multiple
bonds
6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
• Lewis structure – examples
6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
• polar bond: different elements have different electronegativities (EN)
(Ch. 7)
the higher EN, the stronger attraction of electrons
→ partial charges, described by dipole moment
m=Sqr
6 Chemische Bindung: c) Kovalent
 6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
• formal charge: consider valence electrons of element with number of
electrons in compound

CO₂: CN⁻:
element: 6 4 6 4 5
in Lewis structures
formal charges should be
compound: 6 4 6 5 5 at minimum!

→ no formal charge -1 0
6 Chemical bonding: c) covalent bond
• resonance structures:
multiple ‘correct‘ Lewis structures (s. NO₃⁻), no unique assignment of
electrons
experimentally proven by distance measurements

benzene ozone