Bonding—Covalent Compounds

Covalent Compounds Bond Distances and Coordination Geometries... 

Born-Haber cycle A thermodynamic cycle derived by application of Hess s law. Commonly used to calculate lattice energies of ionic solids and average bond energies of covalent compounds. E.g. NaCl ... 

The shapes of covalent compounds are determined by the tendency for bonding pairs to be as far apart as possible whilst lone pairs have a greater effect than bonding pairs (VSEPR theory). 

Double bonds also occur in other covalent compounds. By considering each double bond to behave spatially as a single bond we are able to use Table 2.6 to determine the spatial configurations of such compounds. 

These apparent anomalies are readily explained. Elements in Group V. for example, have five electrons in their outer quantum level, but with the one exception of nitrogen, they all have unfilled (I orbitals. Thus, with the exception of nitrogen. Group V elements are able to use all their five outer electrons to form five covalent bonds. Similarly elements in Group VI, with the exception of oxygen, are able to form six covalent bonds for example in SF. The outer quantum level, however, is still incomplete, a situation found for all covalent compounds formed by elements after Period 2. and all have the ability to accept electron pairs from other molecules although the stability of the compounds formed may be low. This... 

In most covalent compounds, the strong covalent bonds link the atoms together into molecules, but the molecules themselves are held together by much weaker forces, hence the low melting points of molecular crystals and their inability to conduct electricity. These weak intermolecular forces are called van der WaaFs forces in general, they increase with increase in size of the molecule. Only... 

The element before carbon in Period 2, boron, has one electron less than carbon, and forms many covalent compounds of type BX3 where X is a monovalent atom or group. In these, the boron uses three sp hybrid orbitals to form three trigonal planar bonds, like carbon in ethene, but the unhybridised 2p orbital is vacant, i.e. it contains no electrons. In the nitrogen atom (one more electron than carbon) one orbital must contain two electrons—the lone pair hence sp hybridisation will give four tetrahedral orbitals, one containing this lone pair. Oxygen similarly hybridised will have two orbitals occupied by lone pairs, and fluorine, three. Hence the hydrides of the elements from carbon to fluorine have the structures... 

Boron nitride is chemically unreactive, and can be melted at 3000 K by heating under pressure. It is a covalent compound, but the lack of volatility is due to the formation of giant molecules as in graphite or diamond (p. 163). The bond B—N is isoelectronic with C—C. 

Boddington and Iqbal [727] have interpreted kinetic data for the slow thermal and photochemical decompositions of Hg, Ag, Na and T1 fulminates with due regard for the physical data available. The reactions are complex some rate studies were complicated by self-heating and the kinetic behaviour of the Na and T1 salts is not described in detail. It was concluded that electron transfer was involved in the decomposition of the ionic solids (i.e. Na+ and Tl+ salts), whereas the rate-controlling process during breakdown of the more covalent compounds (Hg and Ag salts) was probably bond rupture. 

Two other theories as to the mechanism of the benzidine rearrangement have been advocated at various times. The first is the rc-complex mechanism first put forward and subsequently argued by Dewar (see ref. 1 pp 333-343). The theory is based on the heterolysis of the mono-protonated hydrazo compound to form a n-complex, i.e. the formation of a delocalised covalent it bond between the two rings which are held parallel to each other. The rings are free to rotate and product formation is thought of as occurring by formation of a localised a-bond between appropriate centres. Originally the mechanism was proposed for the one-proton catalysis but was later modified as in (18) to include two-protons, viz. 

Although the S—O bond lengths in sulphoxides and sulphones seem to indicate that these are covalent double bonds, the dipole moments of these compounds obtained by calculation or by experimental measurements support the semipolar single-bond character in these compounds, and they should be represented as S - O, with about 66% ionic character14,15. 

The question as to whether or not hydrazoic add and nitric add are more closely related to the corresponding covalent compounds than to the ions could be answered by determining the configurations of the acids. From general information we would predict that the H-N and H-0 bonds are essentially covalent (with perhaps about one-third ionic character) and that the Ns and NOs groups in the acids have the same structures as in methyl azide and nitrates. This prediction is supported by the instability of the acids. 

While sharing of electrons, i.e., covalent bonding, is the major component of the cohesive force in intermetallics, rationalization of their structure formation based on such chemical bonding is not trivial, because of the failure of the common electron counting rules that chemists have developed over the years from the studies of covalent compounds. The origin of the problem is the well-delo-... 

It also turns out from the reduction potentials of [112" ], [25" ], [99 ], [100 ], [26 ] and [IIS" ] (Table 8) that the product of the reaction, a covalent compound or a salt with [2 ], changes abruptly from a covalent compound to a salt as the stability of the cation moiety is gradually increased. The borderline between the two types of reactions lies between [100" ] and [26 ]. The difference (0.017 V) in the E ed values of these cations suggests that only a slight difference (0.4 kcal mol or less) in electronic stability can completely switch the type of bond. 

In the case of covalent compounds, crystal-field theory is a poor model for estimating electric field gradients because of the extensive participation of ligand atomic orbitals in the chemical bonds. MO calculations are a much better choice, since the corresponding interactions are considered, and realistic (noninteger) population numbers are obtained for the central metal as well as the ligand atomic orbitals. 

For low values of the valence electron concentration (VEC< 4 for main group elements), covalent 2c2e bonds are not sufficient to overcome the electron deficiency. We have the case of electron-deficient compounds . For these, relief comes from multicenter bonds. In a three-center two-electron bond (3c2e) three atoms share an electron pair. An even larger number of atoms can share one electron pair. With increasing numbers of... 

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