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The lone electron pair on the nitrogen atom (N) in ammonia, represented as a line above the N, forms a coordinate bond with a proton (H +). After that, all four N−H bonds are equivalent, being polar covalent bonds. The ion has a tetrahedral structure and is isoelectronic with methane and the borohydride anion.
The sum of the number of atoms bonded to a central atom and the number of lone pairs formed by its nonbonding valence electrons is known as the central atom's steric number. The electron pairs (or groups if multiple bonds are present) are assumed to lie on the surface of a sphere centered on the central atom and tend to occupy positions that ...
Thus, the number of electrons in lone pairs plus the number of electrons in bonds equals the number of valence electrons around an atom. Lone pair is a concept used in valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (VSEPR theory) which explains the shapes of molecules. They are also referred to in the chemistry of Lewis acids and bases. However ...
Place lone pairs. The 14 remaining electrons should initially be placed as 7 lone pairs. Each oxygen may take a maximum of 3 lone pairs, giving each oxygen 8 electrons including the bonding pair. The seventh lone pair must be placed on the nitrogen atom. Satisfy the octet rule. Both oxygen atoms currently have 8 electrons assigned to them.
However, the three hydrogen atoms are repelled by the electron lone pair in a way that the geometry is distorted to a trigonal pyramid (regular 3-sided pyramid) with bond angles of 107°. In contrast, boron trifluoride is flat, adopting a trigonal planar geometry because the boron does not have a lone pair of electrons.
Other molecules have a tetrahedral arrangement of electron pairs around a central atom; for example ammonia (NH 3) with the nitrogen atom surrounded by three hydrogens and one lone pair. However the usual classification considers only the bonded atoms and not the lone pair, so that ammonia is actually considered as pyramidal. The H–N–H ...
The geometry is common for certain main group compounds that have a stereochemically-active lone pair, as described by VSEPR theory. Certain compounds crystallize in both the trigonal bipyramidal and the square pyramidal structures, notably [Ni(CN) 5] 3−. [1]
For example, an imido ligand in the ionic form has three lone pairs. One lone pair is used as a sigma X donor, the other two lone pairs are available as L-type pi donors. If both lone pairs are used in pi bonds then the M−N−R geometry is linear. However, if one or both these lone pairs is nonbonding then the M−N−R bond is bent and the ...