Chemical Bonds

and Compounds
Part 2: Covalent Bond Model
Ionic vs Covalent
• 1. Ionic bonds form between atoms of dissimilar elements
(metal + nonmetal). Covalent bond occurs between similar or
even identical atoms (often two nonmetals are involved)
• 2. Ionic bond = Electron transfer, Covalent bond = Electron
sharing
• 3. Ionic compounds do not have discreet molecules. In
covalently bonded compounds, the basic structural unit is a
molecule (molecular compounds)
• 4. All ionic compounds are solids at RT. Molecular compounds
may be solids, liquids, or gases at RT.
• 5. An ionic solid, if soluble in water, forms aqueous solution
that conducts electricity. A molecular compound, if soluble in
water, usually produces a nonconduction aqueous solution
Covalent Bond

• A covalent bond is a chemical

bond resulting from two nuclei
attracting the same shared
electrons
• Consider two hydrogen atoms,
each with a single electron that
are brought together
• The orbitals that contain the
valence electrons overlap to
create an orbital common to both
atoms
Lewis Structures for Molecular Compounds
• The octet rule and Lewis symbols are also useful for molecular compounds
• Fluorine (Group VIIA) has seven valence electrons. Lewis symbol:
• Consider the molecules HF, F2, and BrF

• A common practice in writing Lewis structures for covalently bonded molecules is to represent the
shared electron pairs with dashes

• Bonding electrons are pairs of valence electrons that are shared between atoms in a covalent bond.
Nonbonding electrons are pairs of valence electrons on an atom that are not involved in electron
sharing
Lewis Structures for
Molecular Compounds
• Consider the molecules H2O, NH3,
and CH4. The hydrogen content of
these molecules is correlated
directly with the fact that oxygen,
nitrogen, and carbon have six, five,
and four valence electrons, and
therefore need to gain two, three
and four electrons, respectively,
through electron sharing in order for
the octet rule to be obeyed.
Single, Double, and Triple Covalent Bonds

• A single covalent bond is a covalent bond in which two atoms share one pair of electrons
• A double covalent bond is a covalent bond in which two atoms share two pairs of electrons
• A triple covalent bond is a covalent bond in which two atoms share three pairs of electrons
• Consider the molecule N2, which has a triple covalent bond.
• A nitrogen atom has five valence electrons. Lewis structure:
• In order to have an octet of electrons, each nitrogen atom must share thee of its electrons with the
other nitrogen atom
Single, Double, and Triple Covalent Bonds

• Consider the molecule C2H2 (acetylene). A carbon-carbon triple covalent bond is present as well as
two carbon-hydrogen single bonds

• The two atoms in a triple covalent bond are commonly the same element. However, they do not have
to be. Consider HCN (hydrogen cyanide)
Valence Electrons and
Number of Covalent Bonds
• Not all elements can form multiple bonds
• There must be at least two vacancies in an atom’s valence
electron shell prior to bond formation if it is to participate
in a double bond
• At least three vacancies are necessary for triple bond
formation
• Multiple bonding does not have to occur when an element
has two, three, or four vacancies; single covalent bonds can
be formed instead
Valence Electrons and Number of Covalent Bonds

• Consider Oxygen (6 valence electrons, 2 octet vacancies)

• Nitrogen (5 valence electrons, 3 octet vacancies)

• Carbon ( 4 valence electrons, 4 octet vacancies)

Electronegativity

• The ionic and covalent bonding models

seem to represent two very distinct
forms of bonding, but the two models
are closely related; they are the
extremes of a broad continuum of
bonding patterns
• Electronegativity is the measure of the
relative attraction that an atoms has for
the shared electrons in a bond
• Linus Pauling developed a numerical
scale for electronegativity
 • A nonpolar covalent bond is a covalent bond in which
there is equal sharing of electrons between two atoms
• A polar covalent bond is a covalent bond in which there
is unequal sharing of electrons between atoms
• Unequal sharing of electrons in a polar covalent bond
creates a fractional positive and negative charges on
Bond Polarity atoms
• The Greek letter delta (𝛿) is used to denote fractional
charge
• The symbol 𝛿– means fractional negative charge, and is
placed above the more electronegative atom of the bond
• The symbol 𝛿+ means fractional positive charge, and it is
placed above the less electronegative atom of the bond
Bond Polarity

• With the delta notation, the direction of polarity of the bond in hydrogen chloride (HCl) is depicted as

• The direction of polarity of a polar covalent bond can also be designated by using and arrow with a
cross at one end

• Bond polarity is a measure of the degree of inequality in the sharing of electrons between two atoms
in a chemical bond
• The numerical value of the electronegativity difference between two bonded atoms gives an
approximate measure of bond polarity
Guidelines
• 1. Bonds that involve atoms with the same or very similar
electronegativities are called nonpolar covalent bonds.
These are those with electronegativity difference of 0.4 or
less
• 2. Bonds with an electronegativity difference greater than
0.4 but less than 1.5 are called polar covalent bonds
• 3. Bonds with an electronegativity difference greater than
2.0 are called ionic bonds
• 4. Bonds with electronegativity difference between 1.5 and
2.0 are considered ionic if the bond involves a metal and a
nonmetal, polar covalent if the bond involves two
nonmetals
Practice

• Classify each bond as nonpolar covalent, polar covalent or ionic

A. N—Cl B. Ca—F C. C—O D. B—H E. N—O

Answers:
A. Nonpolar covalent
B. Ionic
C. Polar Covalent
D. Nonpolar covalent
E. Polar covalent
Naming Binary
Molecular Compounds
• Rules are very similar to that used for naming
binary ionic compounds
• However, names for binary molecular compounds
always contain numerical prefixes that give the
number of each type of atom present in addition to
the names of the elements present
• The full name of the nonmetal of lower
electronegativity is given first, followed by a
separate word containing the stem of the name of
the more electronegative nonmetal and the suffix –
ide. Numerical prefixes, giving the numbers of
atoms, precede the names of both nonmetals
Naming Binary
Molecular
Compounds
• For example: N2O, N2O3, N2O4
• Names: dinitrogen monoxide,
dinitrogen trioxide, dinitrogen
tetroxide
• Compounds in which hydrogen
is the first listed element in the
formula are named without
numerical prefixes. Ex. HCl =
hydrogen chloride
• Few binary molecular
compounds have common
names