Hydrogen reactivity with elements

Remarks on the systematics of hydrogen reactivity with the elements. 

Covalent hahdes can be prepared by various synthetic routes. The simplest are direct reactions of elemental halogens (equation 9), or hydrogen halides with elements (equation 10) or oxides (equation 11). In other processes, the oxides are reacted with a halogen halide in the presence of carbon to combine with the oxygen (equation 12) or other reactive carbon-halides (equation 13). Exchange of halogens can also take place (equations 14 16). Anhydrous halides can also be obtained by dehydration of metal halide hydrates, using reactants such as thionyl halide, which react with the hydrated water (equation 17). 

Sulfur is a reactive, nonmetallic element naturally found in nature in a free or combined state. Large deposits of elemental sulfur are found in various parts of the world, with some of the largest being along the coastal plains of Louisiana. In its combined form, sulfur is naturally present in sulfide ores of metals such as iron, zinc, copper, and lead. It is also a constituent of natural gas and refinery gas streams in the form of hydrogen sulfide. Different processes have been developed for obtaining sulfur and sulfuric acid from these three sources. 

Figure 5. Niels Bohr came up with the idea that the energy of orbiting electrons would be in discrete amounts, or quanta. This enabled him to successfully describe the hydrogen atom, with its single electron, In developing the remainder of his first table of electron configurations, however, Bohr clearly relied on chemical properties, rather than quantum theory, to assign electrons to shells. In this segment of his configuration table, one can see that Bohr adjusted the number of electrons in nitrogen s inner shell in order to make the outer shell, or the reactive shell, reflect the element s known trivalency.

Sodium is a very reactive metallic element for example, it liberates hydrogen gas when treated with water. Chlorine is a yellow-green, choking gas, used in World War I as a poison gas. Contrast these properties with those of the compound of sodium and chlorine—sodium chloride—known as table salt. 

A substituent affects reactivity in two general ways (a) by its electronic effect, that is, by its effect on the availability of electrons at the reaction center and (b) by its steric effect, that is, by its effect on crowding in the molecule. Since hydrogen is the element most commonly attached to carbon, it is used as the standard of reference. We consider a substituent G, which may be an atom or a group of atoms, to be attached to a carbon in place of a hydrogen, and we ask the question How does G C— compare with H—C-- ... 

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