IONIC

BONDING
IONIC

BONDING

What is chemical bond?

Chemical bond or chemical bonding
may be defined as the force or, more
accurately, the energy, that hold atoms
together in chemical compounds.
There are two principal classes of
chemical bonding, namely ionic
bonding and covalent bonding.

Valence electrons
Valence electrons are those in the
outermost shell of an atom. The
remaining electrons are the core
electrons.

Valence
electron
Na (2, 8, 1)

Core electron
Core electron
Valence electron

Valence
electron
Cl (2, 8, 7)

Core electron
Core electron
Valence electron

Lewis symbol
Lewis symbol or Lewis dot
symbol is the symbol of an
element that includes dots
represents the valence
electrons of an atom of the
element. Core electrons are
not shown in the Lewis
symbol.

For an atom with four or less valence

electrons, these electrons are displayed
singly around the four sides of the symbol
of the element.
If there more than four valence electrons,
some of their dots are paired.

13

14

IA

IIA

IIIA

IVA

.
.C. .

.
:N. .
15
VA

.
:O. :
16
VIA

:F .

:Ne :

17

18

VIIA

VIIIA

: :

or

. Be .

: :

Group

Li.

.
.B .

The creation of ions is indicated by

removing dots from or adding them to
Lewis symbol and also by writing the net
electric charge of the ion as a right
superscript.
_

:F:

:O :

:N:

:C:

Mg2+

Na+

or
_

:F :

:O :

:N:

:C:

Mg

2+

Na

Combination of Lewis symbol of cation and

anion in ionic compound is a Lewis structure
of ionic compound.

: Cl :

NaCl

MgO

MgCl2

2 Na

:O :
:

2 : Cl :

Mg

2+

:O :

Mg

2+

Na

Na2O

_
2

The outermost shell of electron

configurations of ions or atoms
similar to those of noble gases,
except helium, always contains
eight electrons. This is usually said
as an octet configuration.
Ions and atoms with electron
configuration similar to those of
noble gases are said obeying octet
configuration or octet rule. These
atoms and ions are usually stable.

Classification of ion
Ion

Cation

Anion

Simple
cation

Polyatomic
cation

Na+
Mg2+
Al3+

NH4+
PH4+

Simple
anion
ClO2N3-

Polyatomic
anion
NO3SO42PO43-

Classification of ionic compound

(1) ionic compound consists of simple cation and
simple anion.
Examples: NaCl, MgCl2, MgO, K2O
(2) ionic compound consists of simple cation and
polyatomic anion.
Examples: NaNO3, MgSO4, Na2SO4
(3) ionic compound consists of polyatomic cation
and simple anion.
Examples: NH4Cl, NH4Br, PH4I
(4) ionic compound consists of polyatomic cation
and polyatomic anion.
Examples: NH4NO3, (NH4)2SO4

Ionic bonding
An ionic bonding is a chemical
bonding formed by the electrostatic
attraction between positive and
negative ions.

Formation of ionic compound

(1) Formation of ionic compounds directly
from cation and anion such as given in
the following examples
Na2SO4(aq) + BaCl2(aq)
2NaCl(aq) + BaSO4(s)
Na2CO3(aq) + Ba(NO3)2(aq)
2NaNO3(aq) + BaCO3(s)

(2) Formation of ionic compounds

indirectly from elements which
involves transfer electron from one
element to other element
such as
given in the following
example.
Na(g) + Cl(g) NaCl(g)
. Cl :

Na

: :

: :

Na .

: Cl :

an ion pair

Formation of ionic compound is

accompanied with the change of
electron configuration of species
involved in the reaction .
. Cl :

(2, 8, 7)

Na

: :

(2, 8, 1)

: :

Na .

: Cl :

(2, 8) (2, 8, 8)

Na (2, 8, 1)

Cl (2, 8, 7)

Na+ (2, 8)

Cl- (2, 8, 8)

Formation of ionic compound is also

accompanied with the change of the size
of species involved in the reaction .

+
Na(g)

Cl(g)

Na+(g)

Cl-(g)

Structure of ionic compound

In the gas phase,
an ionic compound
may exist as an ion
pair. Sodium
chloride, for
example, exists as
an ion pair.

Na

Cl

In the solid phase there are many Na + and

Cl ions forming regular arrangement of
periodic alternating positive and negative
ions. The 2-dimension structure of NaCl is
as follows.
Na+

Na+
Cl-

Cl-

(a)

(b)

The 3-dimension unit cell of NaCl crystal is a

face centered cubic (fcc)
Face center Corner

Face center Corner

Side center

Side center

(a)

(b)
= Cl-

= Na+

The enthalpy changing for the formation

of gaseous ionic pair of NaCl (Hf, f =
formation) from its gaseous atoms can be
calculated as follows:
Na(g)
Cl(g) + e

Na+(g) + e

IE = 495 kJ/mol

Cl-(g)

EA = -348.5 kJ/mol

Na+(g) + Cl-(g)

NaCl(g)

Hip = -450.2 kJ/mol

Na(g) + Cl(g)

NaCl(g)

Hf = -303.7 kJ/mol

Properties of ionic compounds

(1) Ionic compounds tend to have high
melting point because the ionic bonding
in this compound is quite strong.
In NaCl crystal, for example, there are
many Na+ cations and Cl anions where
each Na+ ion is attracted to many
surrounding Cl anions and each Cl anion
is attracted to many surrounding
Na+
cations. For sodium chloride to melt every
ionic attraction in the crystal must
be
overcome. This process requires
large
amount of energy so that NaCl has
high
melting point.

Melting point of some alkali halides

Alkali
halide

m.p.
(C)

Alkali
halide

m.p.
(C)

NaF
NaCl
NaBr
NaI

993
801
747
651

KF
KCl
KBr
KI

846
770
730
686

(2) In the solid state, ionic

compounds do not conduct
electricity because the attractive
force between cations and anions
prevent the movement of ions
through the crystal. When the
solid melted, however, the ions
become free to move about and the
liquid conducts electricity
quite
well.

(3) Ionic compounds are usually hard

but brittle substances. When struck
by a hammer the layer of ions in the
crystal moves.
The slight movement of a layer of
ion within crystal suddenly places
ions of the same charge next to each
other, and for that instant
there are
large repulsive forces that
split the
solid and crystal of ionic compound
shatters.

A blow
is struck
_

_
+

_
+

+
_
+

(a)

(b)

+
_

(c)

(4) Ionic compounds dissolves in

polar solvent such as water.
NaCl, for example, dissolves very
easily in water. The solution of
ionic compound in water conducts
electricity because in the solution
ions move freely. Ionic compound
does not dissolve in most organic
compounds such as acetone,
alcohol, ether, and carbon
tetrachloride.

Summary
(1) Chemical bond or chemical bonding
may be defined as the force or, more
accurately, the energy, that hold atoms
together in chemical compounds.
(2) There are two principal classes of
chemical bonding, namely ionic bonding
and covalent bonding.
(3) Not all of electrons in an atom participate
in chemical bonding. For main group
elements, only valence electrons play a
fundamental role in chemical bonding.

(4) In an ionic compound, the ions

present tend to attain an electron
configuration similar to those of
noble gases or octet configuration.
These ions with such electron
configuration obey the octet rule.
(5) Simple ionic compound consists of
simple cation and simple anion.
Simple ionic compounds form only
between very active metallic
elements and very active
nonmetallic elements.

(6) An ionic bonding is a chemical

bonding formed by the electrostatic
attraction between positive and
negative ions.
(7) Ionic compounds tend to have
high melting point, do not conduct
electricity in the solid phase,
usually hard but brittle substances.
Ionic compounds dissolves in
polar solvent such as water.