Lone pair of electrons

When necessary a lone pair of electrons are considered a substituent and given a priority lower than H. 

In this case we have three bonding pairs and one lone pair. The essential shape is, therefore, tetrahedral but this is distorted due to the presence of the lone pair of electrons, the H—N—H bond angle beine 107 ... 

The distortion due to the presence of lone pairs of electrons is more marked in water ... 

If the spatial arrangement of atoms is required this can be deduced from the basic structure by neglecting the positions occupied by lone pairs of electrons. Water, for example, can be described as a V shape whilst ammonia is a trigonal pyramid. 

Other compounds containing lone pairs of electrons readily form co-ordinate links and in each case a change in spatial configuration accompanies the bond formation. The oxygen atom in dimethyl ether, CHj—O—CHj, has two lone pairs of electrons and is able to donate one pair to, for example, boron trichloride ... 

What effect does the presence of a lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen atom have on ... 

We have seen that a base can be defined as combining with a proton and, therefore, requires at least one lone pair of electrons. A more general definition of acids and bases, due to G. N. Lewis, describes a base as any species (atom, ion or molecule) which can donate an electron pair, and an acid as any species which can accept an electron pair— more simply, a base is an electron-pair donor, an acid an electron-pair acceptor. Some examples of Lewis acids and bases are ... 

Boron trioxide is not particularly soluble in water but it slowly dissolves to form both dioxo(HB02)(meta) and trioxo(H3B03) (ortho) boric acids. It is a dimorphous oxide and exists as either a glassy or a crystalline solid. Boron trioxide is an acidic oxide and combines with metal oxides and hydroxides to form borates, some of which have characteristic colours—a fact utilised in analysis as the "borax bead test , cf alumina p. 150. Boric acid. H3BO3. properly called trioxoboric acid, may be prepared by adding excess hydrochloric or sulphuric acid to a hot saturated solution of borax, sodium heptaoxotetraborate, Na2B407, when the only moderately soluble boric acid separates as white flaky crystals on cooling. Boric acid is a very weak monobasic acid it is, in fact, a Lewis acid since its acidity is due to an initial acceptance of a lone pair of electrons from water rather than direct proton donation as in the case of Lowry-Bronsted acids, i.e. 

This structure indicates that carbon monoxide should have donor properties, the carbon atom having a lone pair of electrons. Carbon... 

Ammonia as a donor molecule. Because of the presence of the lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen atom, ammonia can behave as an electron pair donor. For example, ammonia abstracts a proton from a water molecule producing the tetrahedral ammonium, NH4, ion and forms the compounds HjN- AlClj and HjN- BClj. 

Pure hydrazine is a colourless liquid, melting point 275 K, and boiling point 387 K. It is surprisingly stable for an endothermic compound = -i- 50.6 kJ mol ). Each nitrogen atom has a lone pair of electrons and either one or both nitrogen atoms are able to accept protons to give and the less stable... 

Phosphine is a colourless gas at room temperature, boiling point 183K. with an unpleasant odour it is extremely poisonous. Like ammonia, phosphine has an essentially tetrahedral structure with one position occupied by a lone pair of electrons. Phosphorus, however, is a larger atom than nitrogen and the lone pair of electrons on the phosphorus are much less concentrated in space. Thus phosphine has a very much smaller dipole moment than ammonia. Hence phosphine is not associated (like ammonia) in the liquid state (see data in Table 9.2) and it is only sparingly soluble in water. 

The covalently bonded oxygen atom still has two lone pairs of electrons and can act as an electron pair donor. It rarely donates both pairs (to achieve 4-coordination) and usually only one donor bond is formed. A water molecule, for example, can donate to a proton, forming H30, and diethyl ether can donate to an acceptor such as boron trifluoride ... 

Because of the presence of the lone pairs of electrons, the molecule has a dipole moment (and the liquid a high permittivity or dielectric constant). 

The structure of sulphur tetrafluoride, and probably also SeF and TeF4, is trigonal bipyramidal with one position occupied by a lone pair of electrons ... 

Cyanide is a good anion, and the cation is stabilised by a lone pair of electrons on oxygen. Draw the disconnection again using the lone pair. 

Chiral Center. The chiral center, which is the chiral element most commonly met, is exemplified by an asymmetric carbon with a tetrahedral arrangement of ligands about the carbon. The ligands comprise four different atoms or groups. One ligand may be a lone pair of electrons another, a phantom atom of atomic number zero. This situation is encountered in sulfoxides or with a nitrogen atom. Lactic acid is an example of a molecule with an asymmetric (chiral) carbon. (See Fig. 1.13b.)... 

In H2O and NH3, shown in Figures 4.18(a) and 4.18(b), the direction of the dipole moment is along the C2 or C3 axis, respectively. In both molecules there are lone pairs of electrons directed away from the 0-FI or N-FI bonds so that the negative end of the dipole is as shown in each case. 

Charge-Transfer Compounds. Similat to iodine and chlorine, bromine can form charge-transfer complexes with organic molecules that can serve as Lewis bases. The frequency of the iatense uv charge-transfer adsorption band is dependent on the ionization potential of the donor solvent molecule. Electronic charge can be transferred from a TT-electron system as ia the case of aromatic compounds or from lone-pairs of electrons as ia ethers and amines. 

Charge-Transfer Forces. An electron-rich atom, or orbital, can form a bond with an electron-deficient atom. Typical examples are lone pairs of electrons, eg, in nitrogen atoms regularly found in dyes and protein and polyamide fibers, or TT-orbitals as found in the complex planar dye molecules, forming a bond with an electron-deficient hydrogen or similar atom, eg, —0 . These forces play a significant role in dye attraction. 

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