Chem 121 Note 2

CHEMICAL BONDING
Chemical bond is the force of attraction between two or more atoms held together as a
single unit or molecule.
Basically, in chemical bonding there is a rearrangement of electrons within atoms that bond
together leading to an energetically stable condition.
Two main theories exist which explain the interaction of electrons to form bonds
I. Valence Bond Theory: This represents a simple picture of electron in a molecule in

which one or more valence electrons from one atom are associated with the outer
shell of another atom.
According to valence bond theory, a bond forms between two atoms when the
following conditions are met:
1. An orbital on one atom comes to occupy a portion of the same region of space as
an orbital on the other atom. The two orbitals are said to overlap.
2. The total number of electrons in both orbitals is no more than two.
As the orbital of one atom overlaps the orbital of another, the electrons in the orbitals begin to
move about both atoms. Because the electrons are attracted to both nuclei at once, they pull the
atoms together. Strength of bonding depends on the amount overlap; the greater the overlap, the
greater the bond strength. The two orbitals cannot contain more than two electrons because a given
region of space can hold only two electrons with opposite spin. This a major limitation to VBT as it can
only be use to explain the formation hydrogen molecule
II. Molecular Orbital Theory: Precisely describes the interaction of atom forming
molecule and the distribution of electrons within them. This implies a new set of
orbital developed from the atomic orbital of the interacting atoms forming the
molecule.
TYPES OF CHEMICAL BONDS
The major types of chemical bonds of interest are

Ionic bond,
Covalent bond
Coordinate covalent bond.
Other bond includes metallic bond and intermolecular forces such as hydrogen bond, van
der waal forces and dipole-dipole attraction.
An ionic bond is a chemical bond formed by the electrostatic attraction between positive
and negative ions. The bond forms between two atoms when one or more electrons are
transferred from the valence shell of one atom to the valence shell of the other. The atom
that loses electrons becomes a cation (positive ion), and the atom that gains electrons
becomes an anion (negative ion).
To understand why ionic bonding occurs, consider the transfer of a valence electron
from a sodium atom (electron configuration (1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s1) to the valence shell of
a chlorine atom (1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2 3p5). The electron transfer can be represented by
the following equation:
Na (1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s ) + Cl (1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s 3p ) → Na+ (1s2, 2s2, 2p6) + Cl- (1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s 3p )
1 2 5 2 6
As a result of the electron transfer, ions are formed, each of which has a noble-gas
configuration. The sodium atom has lost its 3s electron and has taken on the neon
configuration, [Ne]. The chlorine atom has accepted the electron into its 3p subshell and has
taken on the argon configuration, [Ne]3s23p6. Such noble-gas configurations and the
corresponding ions are particularly stable. This stability of the ions accounts in part for the
formation of the ionic solid NaCl. [ Na+Cl-]
Covalent bond
A chemical bond formed by the sharing of a pair of electrons between atoms to form a
stable arrangement i.e duplet of octet structure.
.
H. .H H. H
NB A formula using dots to represent valence electrons is called a Lewis electron-dot
formula.
An electron pair represented by a pair of dots in such a formula is either a bonding
pair (an electron pair shared between two atoms) or a lone or nonbonding pair (an
electron pair that remains on one atom and is not shared).
The tendency of atoms in molecules to have eight electrons in their valence shells
(two for hydrogen atoms) is known as the octet rule.
coordinate covalent bond
A bond formed when both electrons of the bond are donated by one atom. Typical example
can be found in ammonium ion, hydroxonium ion and aluminium trichloride
H H +
+
H : H
: +
H + H H :N H
H+ + :O H :O :N
H H H H
Hydroxonium ion Ammonium ion
Polarity of Covalent Bond
Covalent bonds can be non polar if it is formed between atoms that are alike or polar if they
not alike. Depending on the electronegativity of each different atom forming a molecule,
the bond can have varying degree of polarity (either ends of the bond will posses net
positive charge and net negative charge).
Aδ+ B δ-. Bond between H-H, Cl-Cl are non polar while bond in H-Cl , C- Cl are polar.
HYDROGEN BOND
Hydrogen bond is an attractive force which occurs between hydrogen atom which is
covalently bonded to a more electronegative atom and a second strong electronegative
atom with a lone pair of electron. Hydrogen bond could be intermolecular if the bond is
occurs between separate molecules or it could be intramolecular if occur within a given
molecule.
OH -------- O H H ------------ :O:

:O:
CH3 C = CH2 C CH3 H H
Intramolecular H- bond in acetylacetone Intermolecular H- bond in water molecule
Hydrogen bonds are weaker than covalent and ionic bond but stronger than other
intermolecular forces like van der waal force and dipole-dipole attraction. Quantitatively H-
bond is about 1/10th of a normal covalent and responsible for most physical properties of
molecule such as boiling point, solubility etc.

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CHEMICAL BONDING

I. Valence Bond Theory: This represents a simple picture of electron in a molecule in

TYPES OF CHEMICAL BONDS

The major types of chemical bonds of interest are

Hydroxonium ion Ammonium ion

Polarity of Covalent Bond

OH -------- O H H ------------ :O:

Intramolecular H- bond in acetylacetone Intermolecular H- bond in water molecule

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