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Electronic Theory in Organic Chemistry.
Electronic Theory in Organic Chemistry.
BONDING
Bonding is the joining of two atoms in a stable arrangement. It involves a force of attraction
which holds together two or more atoms, ions and molecules.
A. .A A A
The distances between bonded atoms are less than those between non-bonded atoms
The forces between bonded atoms are greater than those between non-bonded atoms.
Bonding is a favourable process because it leads to lowered energy and increased stability. It
may occur between atoms of the same or different elements. In an atom, valence electrons
(outermost electrons) participate in bonding, leading to a stable configuration of electrons
(octet rule). For instance, the First-row element hydrogen (1s 1) will attain the electronic
configuration of a noble gas He (1S2 ) after bonding.
Types of Bonding
There are 2 main types of bonding: ionic and covalent.
1. Ionic bonding is the complete transfer of an electron from an atom (a metal) to another atom
(a non-metal) to give ions. So, ionic bond is an electrostatic attraction between oppositely
charge ions. For example, the ionic bonding in sodium chloride is formed by the transfer of
an electron from a sodium atom to a chlorine atom. Na+ + Cl- NaCl (s)
Typical ionic compounds consist of metallic cations from group 1 and 2 and non- metals
anions from groups 6 &7.
The formation of an ionic compound is favoured when one element has a low ionization
energy (metal) and the other a high electron affinity ( non-metal).
The driving force for the formation of ionic bonds is the considerable lowering of energy that
takes place when ions pack together closely as a solid and their opposite charges attract each
other strongly
Lattice Energy and Enthalpy
• Lattice energy is the energy needed to bring gaseous cations and gaseous anions to
form a solid lattice. For example:
• Lattice enthalpy is the heat required for vaporization of the solid to a gas of ions.
Lattice enthalpy or lattice energy can be measured by combining other measurements
or applying Born-Haber cycle
2. Covalent bonding
This bonding involves sharing of valence electrons between 2 participating atoms.
Compounds that result from covalent bonding are called molecules. E.g CH 4, H2,
NH3, O2, N2 e.t.c. the major type of bonding that exists between organic molecules is a
covalent bond. There are two types of covalent bonding: ordinary and coordinate
covalent bonding.
Covalent bond could be single bond, double bond or triple bond. i.e: C-C, C=O, C=
C etc.
Molecular Orbitals
The electrons in covalent compounds exist in molecular orbitals. Each orbital can take
one or two electrons of opposite spin.
There are three types of molecular orbitals:
Bonding orbitals
Non-orbitals
Antibonding orbitals
Bonding Orbitals
Bonding orbitals are formed by two atomic orbitals merging or overlapping.
Bonding orbitals consist of the electrons from the overlapping atomic orbitals
•• ••
H Cl H Cl
• •
+ • •
•• ••
This type of overlap places bonding electrons in a MOLECULAR ORBITAL along the
line ( horizontal) between the two atoms in the formation
H H
• + • • •
sigma bond ( )
e.g
• Pi (p) Orbital.
Double overlap of two p-orbitals. This type of bond only occurs where the two atoms
are already bonded by a sigma bond.
All single bonds are sigma (σ) bonds.: sigma (σ) bond is formed by end-to-
end overlap of orbitals.
A pi ( ꙥ ) bond is formed by sideways overlap of orbitals.
A pi bond is weaker than a σ ond because sideways overlap is less effective
than end-to-end overlap.
A double bond consists of one σ bond and one p bond
Molecular Shapes
There are several theories which explain the electronic structure and shapes of molecules.
These theories include:
• Lewis Theory ( Octet Rule)
• Sidgwick-Powell theory
• Valence shell Electron Pair Repulsion ( VSEPR) theory
• Valence Bond theory
Tutorial 1
• Use Lewis theory to show the bonds formed in the following molecules: NH 3, H2, H2O,
CO2, HF, N2, HCHO, H3O +, CH3NO, BF3, SF4
• Which of these molecules does /do not obey octet rule.
Limitations of the Lewis structure
This model could not give the bond angles and shapes of molecules.
2 Linear 180o
6 Octahedron 90o
Tutorial 2.
Predict the shape of the following molecules and explain the observed bond angles of each.
i. SF6
ii. BrF5
iii. xeF4
iv. BF3
v. [BF4]-
Effect of Electronegativity
NF3 and NH3 both have structures based on a tetrahedron with one corner occupied by a lone
pair. The high electronegativity of F pulls the bonding electrons further away from N than in
NH3. Thus repulsion between bond pairs is less in NF 3 than in NH3. Hence the lone pair in
NF3 causes a greater distortion from tetrahedral and gives a F-N-F bond of 102o 30’ compared
with 107o 48’ in NH3
Tutorial 3
H2O and F2O are Octahedral molecules explain why their bond angles are 104 o 27’ and 102o
respectively?
Valence Bond Theory
According to this theory, a covalent bond is formed by overlapping of two half-filled
atomic orbitals containing electron of opposite spins. The greater the overlapping, the
stronger the covalent bond. All atoms are made up of nucleus surrounded by electrons
in concentric shells. Each shell surrounding the nucleus corresponds to a principal
quantum no n. n=1, 2, 3 , 4, 5,6. etc. each shell has sub shells known as orbitals. An
atomic orbital is a region in space around the nucleus where there is probability of
finding an electron. Types of subshell or orbitals include: s, p, d, f..
This theory provides a basis for simple description of small inorganic molecules
• The number of bonds formed by an atom is usually the same as the number of
unpaired electrons in the ground state i.e lowest energy state
• Atom may form more bonds by excitation. When electrons which are paired in the
ground state received extra energy, they become unpaired .
• Then the unpaired electron will be promoted to suitable orbital where they can
suitably form bonds.
• Hence the aggregate number of bonds that such atom can form will be more.