Chemical bond

► A chemical bond is defined as the

attractive force that holds two or
more atoms together in a molecule or
an ion.
► In the formation of a chemical bond,
atoms interact with each other by
losing, gaining or sharing of
electron to acquire a stable outer
shell of eight electrons.
Classification of chemical bond
 Ionic Bond
• Also called electrovalent bond

• This chemical bond formed between two atoms

by transfer of one or more valence electrons
from one atom to the other is called ionic bond.

• This bond is formed by the electrostatic force

of attraction between positive and negative
ions.

• The atom that loses electrons becomes a

cation (positive ion), and the atom that gains
electrons becomes an anion (negative ion). In
general, metals form cations and non-metals
form anions.
 Write down the electronic configuration of
1. Na
2. Cl
3. Ne
4. Ar
 6

3p5
The formation of sodium chloride

• The sodium atom will lose its electron from outer most shell (3s) and the Cl atom will gain that electron into its 3p
subshell and has taken on the argon configuration.
• Thus the Na atom will be converted into its cation Na+ ion and Cl atom will be converted into anion Cl-
• Both of them have electronic configuration of their nearest inert element (Ne and Ar).
• The resulting positive ion and negative ion are held together by electrostatic force of attraction which is called
ionic bond or electrovalent bond.
The transfer of an electron from an Na atom to a Cl atom is not in itself energetically favorable; it requires 147
kJ/mol of energy (Step 1). However, 493 kJ of energy is released when these oppositely charged ions come
together to form ion pairs (Step 2a). Moreover, additional energy (293 kJ) is released when these ion pairs form the
solid NaCl crystal (Step 2b).
The lattice energy released when one mole each of Na and Cl ions react to produce NaCl(s) is 786 kJ/mol, and the
overall process of NaCl formation is energetically favorable, releasing 639 kJ/mol if one starts with gaseous Na and
Cl atoms.
Properties of ionic compounds
1. Physical state: Ionic compounds are crystalline solids at room temperature.
2. Electrical conductivity: Ionic compounds do not conduct electricity when they are in the solid
state. The ionic solids conduct electricity when they are water solution or in the molten state.
3. They are quite hard, have low volatility and high melting and boiling points.
4. Most ionic compounds are soluble in polar and insoluble in non polar solvent. Ionic solids
are freely soluble in polar solvents like H2O, liquid ammonia etc.
5. Ionic compounds are very stable.
6. Crystal structure: Ionic solids do not exist as individual neutral independent molecules rather
they exist as three dimensional solid aggregates which have definite geometric shape.
6. Highly brittle: Ionic solids are highly brittle, i.e. if a little external force is applied on ionic crystals,
they are easily broken.
7. High density: The electrostatic force of attraction existing between the cation and anion in an
ionic crystal bring these ions very close to each other. This decreases the volume of crystal and as a
consequence this ionic crystal has high density.
Why ionic compounds are soluble in water?
► The solubility of ionic solids in a polar solvent like water can be
explained by saying that a water molecule is a dipole and hence
the positive end of the dipole interacts with the negative ion of the
ionic solids and the negative end of the dipole interacts with the
positive ion of the same crystal.
► The interaction between the water dipole and the ions of the
crystal lowers down the energy of the system and thus the force of
attraction between the cation and anions of the ionic solid is
weakened. Consequently the water molecules tear off the ions
from the crystal lattice and make them float in the bulk of the
water.
NaCl solubility
 Factors favoring the formation of ionic bond
1) Number of Valence electron
The atom which is converted into cation should posses 1, 2 or 3 valence electrons while the atom which is
converted into anion should have 5, 6 or 7 valence electrons.
The element of group IA, IIA and IIIA satisfy this condition for the cation and those of group VA,VIA and VIIA
satisfy this condition for anion.

2) The ionization energy of the metal atom should be low.

3) Electron affinity of the nonmetal should be high.

4) The lattice energy of the ionic compound formed should be high:

The energy released when one gram mole a crystal is formed from its gaseous ions is called the lattice energy of
the crystal. Thus:
Higher the value of the lattice energy of a crystal, the greater is the ease of its formation i.e. greater will be the
stability of the crystal.

5) Electronegativity difference of the two atoms forming the ionic bond should be high:
In fact a difference of 2 or more is essential for the formation of ionic bond. For example, since the
electronegativity difference between Na and Cl is 2.1 (Na = 0.9, Cl= 3.0) Na and Cl will form an ionic bond in
NaCl molecule.
Electronegativity is a measure
of the tendency of an atom to
attract a bonding pair of
electrons. Fluorine (the most
electronegative element) is
assigned a value of 4.0, and
values range down to caesium
and francium which are the
least electronegative at 0.7.
Covalent Bond
Covalent Bond
• Definition: Covalent bond (also called electron-pair bond) may be defined as the chemical bond or
attractive force between atoms that results from sharing of an electron-pair. Each of the two
bonding atoms contributes one electron to the electron-pair (and has equal claim on the shared
electron-pair). The shared electron pair is indicated by a dash (─) between the two bonded atoms.

• Two atoms may bind together by one, two or even three covalent bonds. H-H, O=O, N≡N.

• The compounds containing a covalent bond are known as covalent compounds.

Conditions for Formation of Covalent Bond

• Combining atoms are non-metals with equal or nearly equal electronegativity.

• The shared electrons must be unpaired and opposite spin

Covalent Bond
Covalent Bond
Covalent Bond
General Properties of Covalent Compounds

• Usually gases, liquids or relatively soft solids at room

temperature.
• Low melting points or boiling points.
• Neither hard nor brittle.
• Usually soluble in nonpolar organic solvents (e.g. benzene,
ether) and insoluble in water.
• Non-conductor of electricity.
• Exhibit isomerism.
Types of Covalent Bonds
There are two main types of covalent bonds: Sigma (σ) bonds and pi (π) bonds.

Sigma (σ) bond

• A sigma bond is formed by linear (end-to-end) overlap of
orbitals.
• All single covalent bonds are sigma bonds.
• Formation of Sigma bond is possible in s,p,d & hybrid
orbitals

Pi (π) bond
• A pi bond is formed by parallel (side-by-side) overlap of p
orbitals. A pi bond has two lobes like p orbitals one half of the
bond lies above the plane containing the two nuclei and the other
half lies below the plane.
• One bond in double bonds and two bonds in triple bonds are pi
bonds.
• Possible in p & d orbitals
Essential of physical Chemistry by Arun Bahl, BS Bahl
Co-ordination bond
It is known as Co-ordinate covalent bond or simply the co-ordination bond or dative bond.

In the formation of a simple covalent bond, each atom supplies one electron to the bond - but that doesn't have to
be the case. A co-ordinate bond is a covalent bond in which both electrons come from the same atom.
Examples: H2O (donor) + H+ (acceptor) → H3O+
NH3 (donor) + H+ (acceptor) → NH4+
The compounds containing a coordinate bond are called coordinate compounds and the molecule or ion that
contains the donor atom is called the ligand.
 Properties of co-ordination bonds

Difference between Covalent Bond and Coordinate Covalent Bond?

• In a covalent bond, both atoms are contributing same number of electrons to the bond, but in
a coordinate covalent bond, two electrons are donated by a single atom.
• In a covalent bond, the electronegativity difference between the two atoms can be zero or a very
low value, but in coordinate covalent bond, type of a polar covalent bond is forming, which means
the difference of electronegativity will be high.
H-Bond

A proton or a hydrogen nucleus has a high concentration of positive

charge. When a hydrogen atom is bonded to a highly electronegative
atom, its positive charge will have an attraction for the neighboring
electron pairs. This kind of dipole-dipole attraction is called a
hydrogen bond. Hydrogen bond is defined as follows:

In compounds where a hydrogen atom is covalently bonded to a

highly electronegative atom such as nitrogen, oxygen or
fluorine the strong attractive force between hydrogen atoms of one
molecule for the electronegative atom of another molecule is called
the hydrogen bond.
H-Bond
H-Bond
H-bond is of two types::
1. Intermolecular H-bond (e.g H2O)
2. Intramolecular (e.g nitrophenol)

• A common example of H-bonding is found in water.

• It should be understood that in hydrogen bond No transfer or sharing of
electrons occur
Why the density of ice is less than that of liquid water?
Can be explained by the H-bonding.
• In the liquid state large number of water molecules joined together by hydrogen bond.
• When water starts freezing, the hydrogen bonds between molecules get fixed in position. In the
solid state (ice) each oxygen atom is surrounded tetrahedrally by four hydrogen atoms: two forming
covalent bonds with the O atom and are close to it to form H2O molecule and two from other H2O
molecules farther away from it forming two hydrogen bonds. The result is a three-dimensional
structure with empty space. This is why ice is less dense than water.

• When ice melts and liquid is formed again

hydrogen bonds are constantly breaking and
forming so that molecules can get close to each
other giving rise to the liquid. This is a unique
property of water and is very important to life on
earth.