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Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH −. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a single covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It functions as a base, a ligand, a nucleophile, and a catalyst.
Both the negatively charged anion HO −, called hydroxide, and the neutral radical HO·, known as the hydroxyl radical, consist of an unbonded hydroxy group. According to IUPAC definitions, the term hydroxyl refers to the hydroxyl radical (·OH) only, while the functional group −OH is called a hydroxy group. [1]
The atoms in molecules, crystals, metals and other forms of matter are held together by chemical bonds, which determine the structure and properties of matter. All bonds can be described by quantum theory , but, in practice, simplified rules and other theories allow chemists to predict the strength, directionality, and polarity of bonds. [ 4 ]
The charge of the resulting ions is a major factor in the strength of ionic bonding, e.g. a salt C + A − is held together by electrostatic forces roughly four times weaker than C 2+ A 2− according to Coulomb's law, where C and A represent a generic cation and anion respectively. The sizes of the ions and the particular packing of the ...
Hydrogen bonds are responsible for holding materials such as paper and felted wool together, and for causing separate sheets of paper to stick together after becoming wet and subsequently drying. The hydrogen bond is also responsible for many of the physical and chemical properties of compounds of N, O, and F that seem unusual compared with ...
A molecule is an electrically neutral group of two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] A molecule may be homonuclear , that is, it consists of atoms of one chemical element, as with two atoms in the oxygen molecule (O 2 ); or it may be heteronuclear , a chemical compound composed of more than one element, as with ...
A simple example of a polyatomic ion is the hydroxide ion, which consists of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, jointly carrying a net charge of −1; its chemical formula is O H −. In contrast, an ammonium ion consists of one nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms, with a charge of +1; its chemical formula is N H + 4.
As noted above, covalent and ionic bonds form a continuum between shared and transferred electrons; covalent and weak bonds form a continuum between shared and unshared electrons. In addition, molecules can be polar, or have polar groups, and the resulting regions of positive and negative charge can interact to produce electrostatic bonding ...