IV.

Chemical Bonding
PREPARED BY GIL FELICISIMO S. CABRERA
Chemical Bonds, Lewis Symbols, and
the Octet Rule
•Chemical bond: attractive force holding two or more atoms
together.
•Covalent bond results from sharing electrons between the
atoms. Usually found between nonmetals.
•Ionic bond results from the transfer of electrons from a
metal to a nonmetal.
•Metallic bond: attractive force holding pure metals
together
Chemical Bonds, Lewis Symbols, and
the Octet Rule
Lewis Symbols
•We represent the electrons as dots around the symbol for the
element.
•The number of electrons available for bonding are indicated by
unpaired dots.
•These symbols are called Lewis symbols.
•We generally place the electrons one four sides of a square around
the element symbol.
Chemical Bonds, Lewis Symbols, and
the Octet Rule
Lewis Symbols
Chemical Bonds, Lewis Symbols, and
the Octet Rule
The Octet Rule
•All noble gases except He has an s2p6 configuration.
•Octet rule: atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons until
they are surrounded by 8 valence electrons (4 electron
pairs).
•Caution: there are many exceptions to the octet rule.
Ionic Bonding
•Consider the reaction between sodium and chlorine:
Na(s) + ½Cl2(g)  NaCl(s)
•We infer that the NaCl is more stable than its constituent elements.
Why?
• Na has lost an electron to become Na+ and chlorine has gained the
electron to become Cl-. Note: Na+ has an Ne electron configuration and
Cl- has an Ar configuration.
•That is, both Na+ and Cl- have an octet of electrons surrounding the
central ion
Ionic Bonding
Electron Configurations of Ions of the Representative
Elements
•These are derived from the electron configuration of elements with
the required number of electrons added or removed from the most
accessible orbital.
•Electron configurations can predict stable ion formation:
• Mg: [Ne]3s2
• Mg+: [Ne]3s1 not stable
• Mg2+: [Ne] stable
• Cl: [Ne]3s23p5
• Cl-: [Ne]3s23p6 = [Ar] stable
Ionic Bonding
Transition Metal Ions
•In general, electrons are removed from orbitals in order of
decreasing n (i.e. electrons are removed from 4s before the
3d).
Poly atomic Ions
•Polyatomic ions are formed when there is an overall charge
on a compound containing covalent bonds. E.g. SO42-, NO3-
Covalent Bonding
•When two similar atoms bond, none of them wants to lose
or gain an electron to form an octet.
•When similar atoms bond, they share pairs of electrons to
each obtain an octet.
•Each pair of shared electrons constitutes one chemical
bond.
•Example: H + H  H2 has electrons on a line connecting the
two H nuclei.
Covalent Bonding
Lewis Structures
•Covalent bonds can be represented by the Lewis symbols of the
elements:
Cl + Cl Cl Cl
•In Lewis structures, each pair of electrons in a bond is represented
by a single line:
H
H O H N H
Cl Cl H F H C H
H H
H
Covalent Bonding
Multiple Bonds
•It is possible for more than one pair of electrons to be shared
between two atoms (multiple bonds):
• One shared pair of electrons = single bond (e.g. H2);
• Two shared pairs of electrons = double bond (e.g. O2);
• Three shared pairs of electrons = triple bond (e.g. N 2).

H H O O N N
•Generally, bond distances decrease as we move from single through
double to triple bonds.
Properties
Properties Ionic Compounds Covalent Compounds
May exist as solids, liquids, or
State Exists as solid in room temp
gases
Melting and Boiling points High Low
Can conduct electricity in
Electrical Conductivity aqueous solution or molten Does not conduct electricity
state
Solubility in Water Soluble Insoluble

Solubility in Organic Solvent Insoluble Soluble

Bond Polarity and Electronegativity
•In a covalent bond, electrons are shared.
•Sharing of electrons to form a covalent bond does not imply
equal sharing of those electrons.
•There are some covalent bonds in which the electrons are
located closer to one atom than the other.
•Unequal sharing of electrons results in polar bonds.
Bond Polarity and Electronegativity
Electronegativity
Electronegativity: The ability of one atoms in a molecule to attract electrons to
itself.
Pauling set electronegativities on a scale from 0.7 (Cs) to 4.0 (F).
Electronegativity increases
• across a period and
• down a group.
Bond Polarity and Electronegativity
Electronegativity
Bond Polarity and Electronegativity
•There is no sharp distinction between bonding types.
•The positive end (or pole) in a polar bond is represented + and the
negative pole -.
Bond Polarity and Electronegativity
Dipole Moments
Consider HF:
• The difference in electronegativity leads to a polar bond.
• There is more electron density on F than on H.
• Since there are two different “ends” of the molecule, we call HF a dipole.
Dipole moment, m, is the magnitude of the dipole:
  Qr
where Q is the magnitude of the charges.
Dipole moments are measured in debyes, D.