Subject Name Chemistry 1

Topic Chemical Bonding

Chapter 3

1. Chapter Overview
 Lewis structure
 Octet rule
 Ionic bond
 Covelent bond
 Dative bond
 Metallic bond
 Valence Shell Repulsion Theory
 Resonance structure

2. Learning Objectives
 To write the Lewis structure for an atom
 To describe the formation of bonds using Lewis dot symbol
 To explain VSEPR theory

3. Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this topic students should be able to:
 Draw Lewis structure with single, double or triple bonds
 Explain the exception to the octet rule, incomplete octet and odd number electrons.
 Explain the concept of resonance using appropriate examples
 Predict and explain the shapes of molecules
Introduction
 Bonds are formed during a chemical reaction.

 Bond formation involves only valence electrons.

 According to electronic theory of valency, reactivity of atom is caused by the

incompleteness of the outermost electron shell (valence shell).

 When atoms combined, they acquire the electronic configuration of noble/octet

configuration. This is done by:

a) Transfer of one or more electrons for one atom to another

- known as

b) Sharing of electrons by atom

-known as

c) Sharing of valence electrons to form a mobile electron cloud which then envelops all
the resulting positive metal ion thus holding the metal atom together

- known as

Metallic bond
Physical properties of metals:
a)

b)

c)

Malleable: a substance is malleable if it can be pressed into different shapes

Ductile: a substance is said to be ductile if it can be pulled into wires.

(a) (b)
 (a) If sufficient force applied to metal, one layer of atoms can slide over another without
disrupting the metallic bonding.

(b) As a result, metallic bonds are strong and flexible, that gives its malleability and ductility.

Electron-sea Model for Metallic Bonding

 A metallic bond is defined as the electrostatic attraction between the positively charged
metal ions and the _______________________________________.

 Metallic atoms have ___________________________which enables their outer electrons

to be released to form a mobile electron sea.

 Since the electrons are mobile, they can conduct electricity by moving from
________________to ____________________when metal is subjected to electrical
potential.

 The mobile electrons can also conduct heat by carrying kinetic energy from a hot part to a
cold part in a metal lattice.

Strength of metallic bond α no of valence electrons per atom

Metallic radius
 Strength of metallic bond increases from sodium (one valence e) to magnesium (two
valence e) to aluminum (three valence e).

Electrovalent (Ionic) bonds

 Ionic bond formed when electrons are transferred from metallic atoms to non-metallic
atoms resulting in the formation of positive and negative ions which attract one
another_____________.

 E.g. NaCl

- One electron is transferred from Na atom to Cl atom to form Na+ and Cl- which are
then attracted to each other electrostatically.
Illustration using dot-cross diagram

Physical properties of ionic compounds

a) Involatile, hard solids with high melting points and boiling points.

Reasons: they have giant ionic crystal structure and ionic bonds between ions are very
strong. Hence, a large amount of energy is needed to break down the giant structure,
weaken or break the ionic bonds.

b) Good electrical conductor when molten or in aqueous form. Cannot conduct electricity in
solid form.

Reason:

Brittle and can be cleaved

c) Soluble in polar solvents such as water but insoluble in non polar solvents such as CCl4,
hexane and benzene.

Reason: polar solvent molecules can attract the ions in the crystal. Such ion-dipole
interaction can produce sufficient energy to break down the crystal and separate the ions.

Covalent bonds
 A covalent bond is formed when two atoms share electrons. Each atom usually gains an
octet configuration as a result of electron sharing.

 Covalent bonds are formed between:

- Non metallic atoms

- Non metallic atoms and certain metallic atom which form highly polarizing atom.

 Covalent bond formation does not always result in atoms gaining an octet. The
availability of ___________________enables elements from Period 3 and above to
expand its octet of electrons.
Dative covalent bonds
 A coordinate/dative bond is a covalent bond in which the shared pair of electrons is
provided by one of the bonded atoms.

 One atom is the ___________ and the other is ______________.

 Once formed, a coordinate bond has the same characteristics as covalent bonds.

 Donor atom must have at least one paired of unshared electrons (a lone pair) in its
valence shell.

 An acceptor has at least one vacant orbital in its valence shell.

 The symbol is used for a coordinate bond, pointing from donor to acceptor.

 E.g.

(a)

(b) H3O+

(c) NH4+
Physical properties of covalent substances
 They can exist as simple molecular compound or giant molecular compound.

 Simple molecular substances e.g. O2, H2, NH3 :

- soft, have low melting and boiling point.

- usually gases or liquids at ordinary temperature.

 Giant molecular substances e.g. diamond, graphite:

 All covalent substances except ___________DO NOT conduct electricity in molten or

solid state.

Reason: they do not have mobile electrons/ions to conduct electricity.

 Simple molecular substances e.g. I2 usually dissolve in polar solvents but some are
soluble in polar solvent.

- Only covalent substances that form hydrogen bond with water molecules are soluble
in water.

 Giant molecular substances are insoluble in all solvents.

Lewis structure
Def: is a representation of covalent bonding in which shared electron pairs are shown either as
lines or dots between two atoms and lone pairs are shown as pairs of dots on individual atoms.
Only valence electrons are shown.
e.g.: write the Lewis structure for compounds below
(a) H2 (b) O2

(c) N2 (d) CO2

(e) H2O (f) NH3

(g) CS2 (h) CH4

(i) CO32- (j) NO3-

(k) SO42- (l) HCHO

 (m) CN- (n) PO43-

Exceptions to the octet rule

a) The incomplete octet
- The electron-deficient compound
- E.g. AlCl3, BCl3, BeCl2
b) Odd number electron molecules
- E.g. NO, NO2, ClO2

c) The expanded octet

- Elements from Period 3 and above have d orbitals that can be used in bonding.

The concept of resonance

A resonance structure: one of two or more Lewis structures for a single molecule that cannot be
represented accurately by only one Lewis structure.
e.g.
NO3-

CO32-
Molecular Shape

Valence Shell Electron Pairs Repulsion Theory (VSEPR)

 Electron pairs can be classified as

a)

b)

 According to VSEPR theory, electron pair would arrange themselves around the central
atom so that they are as __________________________ and there is least repulsion
between them.

This is the 1st rule of VSEPR theory.

 The final shape of the molecule or ion will depend on the no. of lone pairs and bonding
pairs around the central atom which also affects the bond angle.

 Lone pair takes up more space at the surface of an atom than does a bonding pair. Hence,
lone pair repels more than bonding pairs.

 Repulsive force between electron pairs are in the following order: lp-lp> lp-bp> bp-bp

This is the 2nd rule of VSEPR theory.

1. Two pairs of electron

(i) e.g. BeCl2
2. Three pairs of electron
(i) E.g. BCl3

(ii) e.g. SnCl2

3. Four pairs of electron

(i) E.g. CH4

(ii) E.g. NH3

 (iii) E.g. H2O

4. Five pairs of electron

(i) E.g. PF5

(ii) E.g. SF4

(iii) E.g. ClF3

 (iv) E.g. I3-

5. Six pairs of electron

(i) E.g. SF6

(ii) E.g. IF5

(iii) E.g. ICl4-

Multiple bonds
 VSEPR can be used to explain the shapes of molecules or ions that contain a double bond
or a triple bond.

 A = bond or a ≡ bond has the same effect on bond angles as does a –bond because all the
bonding electron pairs are found in between the two atoms in the covalent bond.

 Thus a double or triple bond is counted as one bonding pair when predicting the shapes of
molecules. This is the 3rd rule of VSEPR theory.

e.g:

Draw the Lewis structure and predict the shape of the molecule.

SO2 molecule

Solution:

The Lewis structure for SO2

Lewis structure VSEPR

The S atom is surrounded by one double bond, one single bond and one lone pair of
electron. The shape of SO2 molecule is V-shaped. The bond angle O-S-O is expected to
be smaller than 120° because the lp-bp repulsion > bp-bp repulsion.
KEY TERMS

KEYTERMS DEFINITION

Lewis structure Show the no of valence electrons of an atom

Octet rule Tendency for atoms in compounds to achieve noble gas

configurations.

Double bond Covalent bond that consists of two bonding pairs of

electrons( two atoms sharing four electrons)
Valence electrons Electrons that occupy the outermost orbitals

REFERENCES (follow Harvard Referencing)

1. Silberberg, M.S.,2009, Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change,

5th edition, McGraw Hill.
2. Zumdahl, S.S and Zumdahl, S.A.,2009, Chemistry, 8th edition, Brooks/Cole.
3. Blackman, 2008, Chemistry, 2nd edition, John Wiley.
4. Noorbani, A,2012, College Chemistry, IPTA Publications.