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The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that reflects the theory that main-group elements tend to bond in such a way that each atom has eight electrons in its valence shell, giving it the same electronic configuration as a noble gas. The rule is especially applicable to carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and the halogens; although more generally the ...
The neutral counting method assumes each OH bond is split equally (each atom gets one electron from the bond). Thus both hydrogen atoms have an electron count of one. The oxygen atom has 6 valence electrons. The total electron count is 8, which agrees with the octet rule.
Alternatively, electron-deficiency describes molecules or ions that function as electron acceptors. Such electron-deficient species obey the octet rule, but they have (usually mild) oxidizing properties. [4] 1,3,5-Trinitrobenzene and related polynitrated aromatic compounds are often described as electron-deficient. [5]
In 1916, Gilbert N. Lewis formulated the octet rule, which concluded an octet of electrons in the outer shell was the most stable arrangement for any atom; this arrangement caused them to be unreactive with other elements since they did not require any more electrons to complete their outer shell. [16]
Under the framework of valence bond theory, resonance is an extension of the idea that the bonding in a chemical species can be described by a Lewis structure. For many chemical species, a single Lewis structure, consisting of atoms obeying the octet rule, possibly bearing formal charges, and connected by bonds of positive integer order, is sufficient for describing the chemical bonding and ...
On these views, he proposed the rule of eight or octet rule: Ions or atoms with a filled layer of eight electrons have a special stability. [ 17 ] Moreover, noting that a cube has eight corners Lewis envisioned an atom as having eight sides available for electrons, like the corner of a cube.
Only one of the two pairs of electrons is occupying a molecular orbital that involves bonding to the central atom, the second pair being non-bonding and occupying a molecular orbital composed of only atomic orbitals from the two ligands. This model in which the octet rule is preserved was also advocated by Musher. [3]
The 18-electron rule is the equivalent of the octet rule in main group chemistry and provides a useful guide for predicting the stability of organometallic compounds. [34] It predicts that organometallic species "in which the sum of the metal valence electrons plus the electrons donated by the ligand groups total 18 are likely to be stable."