Warmup

Draw the Lewis structures for:

a. ICl (iodine chloride)
b. CH4
c. HF
d. H2CO
e. SO42-
Bonding and
Lewis
Structures
 A bond is not ACTUALLY 2 dots (or 4 or 6) in
between two atoms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A bond is formed when one orbital (containing an
electron) overlaps with an orbital from another atom.
The electrons are shared and travel within the two
orbitals….they are SHARED. Some orbitals are full
and don’t have to
O C O overlap (lone pairs!)

1e- You will not

2e-
1e- 1e- 1e- need to draw
1e- 2e- something like
1e- this!!!
e- are shared to achieve completely satisfied
valence shells (s2p6)
Lewis structures are drawings that show HOW
atoms are covalently bonded.

Bonding (Shared) Lone (Unshared)

Pair Pair

Lone
(Unshared)
Bonding (Shared) Pair
Pair
Ex. Draw the Lewis Structure for ICl
Hmmmmm how many val e- does iodine have?
What about chlorine?

I
I Cl
I Cl
I Cl
I Cl
I Cl
I Cl
*They each share 1 e- with each other

I Cl
 l How many val e- does each atom have?

l Both end with “full octets”. All

elements MUST end up with a full
octet (few exceptions)

8 Valence
electrons
I Cl 8 Valence
electrons
 Simple Structures Practice
CH4

HF
What about harder structures? Let’s try like…..a method…
Ex. Draw the Lewis Structure for H2CO
1) Calculate total # of valence e-

C = (4 e-)(1 atom) = 4
H = (1 e-)(2 atoms) = 2
O = (6 e-)(1 atom) = 6
12 valence e-
Draw the Lewis Structure for H2CO
2) Plan the molecular skeleton
Hints: C is often central, H and halogens are
never central, O is rarely central
3) Place 1 pair e- between each
of the atoms 6 val e-
4&5) Add in e- to create
double/triple bond or H
lone pairs C O
6) Check thateach atom is

total valance e- are all used H

surrounded by 8 valence e- and
that
7. Final structure: replace each
bonding e- pairs with a line

H
C=O
H Clarification: the structural formula shows
bonds as lines and the lone pairs aren’t
ALWAYS included. A dot diagram
represents bonding electrons pairs as dots. A
Lewis structure can technically be either,
we are not too particular.
 More Practice
 SF6
 CH3Br

 BCl3
 NH3
WEIRDNESS!!!!
 expanded octet
Sulfur usually makes 2 bonds but can
make up to 6
H2S SF6
S F F

F S F

H H F F

Phosphorus can also expand it’s

octet. Nitrogen cannot.
 Incomplete Octet
BCl3 BeF2

Cl Cl F Be F
B Violation on
Cl
Violation
More Practice OH-
Total e-

[H O ] -1 6+1+1

NH4+
Total e-
5+4–1

N2
10 e- total, but
double or
triple bond?
Sometimes there are various Lewis structures
possible! To figure out which is the most
plausible, we calculate formal charges on each
atom in these structures:
f.c.= [valence – belonging]
a. Take valence e- of that element
b. Subtract the e- in lone pairs on that element
c. Subtract half the number e- shared by that
atom in that structure

0 :N = N : 0 +1: N =N -1

try nitrate(NO3-)
 -1
Formal 0
+2 charges add
up to -1 +1

-1 -1
-1 -1
Most likely Lewis structure : formal charge 0 on all atoms.

If not zero:
-formal charges as small as possible
-negative formal charges on most electronegative atoms
-adjacent atoms should not carry formal charges of same sign
-add up to 0 (molecule) or the net charge (polyatomic ion)

formal charge will help you draw the very best structure, but
we’re not going to get too crazy with this ok?
This is not the most likely
structure for SO42-
Draw a more stable Lewis
structure for the sulfate ion, with
a lower formal charge on the
sulfur atom. There are several
options! Hint: try (a) double
bond(s)?)
Total electrons:
S: 6
O: 4 x 6
ion: 2 extra e-
= 32 e-
 (today or next class)
Important:
We are going to talk about a couple more
things. They are not “on the test”. They
might pop up on the SATII Chemistry
subject test etc.
 Sigma and Pi Bonds

A sigma bond can also form 1. when a p and s orbital overlap:

Or 2. if the two p orbitals overlap in an end-to-end fashion

+
 All single bonds are sigma. If an atom has
multiple bonds, the first is sigma, all the rest
are pi bonds.
Ex. N2 has 1 sigma bond and 2 pi bonds
:N N:
Ex. How many
sigma and pi
O C O bonds are found
in CO2?
1e-
2e-
1e-
1e-
1e-
1e- 1e-
2e-
Two s and two p.
*switch between both sections of
1e-
blue p orbital

Sigma bonds form in the space between the atoms. Pi bonds (π) form above
and below the sigma bonds as a result of two p orbitals overlapping sideways
Identify the number of sigma and pi If carbon has1 full s
bonds in each compound below. orbital and a partially
filled p orbital, how
a. 4 sigma
H can it make 4 bonds of
equal energy?
H C H
b. 3 sigma,
1 pi
H 2p  
H 2s 
C O
H
One e- is promoted to the empty p orbital and hybridization of
the 4 orbitals occurs. This is called sp3 hybridization.
p  
sp3    
s 
H The sp3 orbitals have more
energy than the s and less than p.
H C H CH4 is “sp3 hybridized”
 H
C=O
H
p   p
sp2   
s 

3 of carbons e- end up in identical sp2 hybridized orbitals

One remaining e- stays in an unhybridized p orbital,
which overlaps with a p orbital in oxygen in the pi bond
 sp orbitals in CO2
Carbon’s 2 unhybridized e- are left to form the pi
bonds as part of the 2 double bonds

p   p  
sp  
s 
O C O
1e- 1e-
2e-
1e- 1e-
1e- *switch between
1e- 2e-
both sections of
blue p orbital