Question

Is CH₃Cl a Hydrogen Bond?

Answer 1

Hydrogen Bond: The intermolecular force between the compound and the Hydrogen bond formed between a Hydrogen atom and higher electronegativity atoms is called a Hydrogen bond.

• Atoms with high electronegativity are placed on the right side of the periodic table.
• The strength of hydrogen bonds is very high.
• Hydrogen bonds form only between hydrogen and the three most electronegative elements, i.e. Fluorine, Oxygen, and Nitrogen.
• The Hydrogen bonds can exist only in these compounds with large electronegativity differences.

Ionic bonding: Ionic bonding involves the transfer of electrons from one atom or molecule to another.

• In ionic bonding, one atom loses an electron and another atom gains an electron.
• This results in positively and negatively charged ions.

CH₃Cl: CH₃Cl is the chemical formula for chloromethane also known as methyl chloride.

• The electronegativity difference is greater because the chlorine atom is attached to the carbon atom, making it an ionic compound.
• Being an ionic compound, there is an ionic bond between carbon and chlorine.
• Now, Examine the Lewis configuration of the molecule to determine the possibility of hydrogen bonding.
• Electronegative atoms such as oxygen and nitrogen have one or two unshared electron pairs that have a negative partial charge.
• The steric number indicates the number of bonds and lone pairs in the center atom.
• The value of the steric number for CH₃Cl is 4.
• Three sigma bonds exist between carbon and hydrogen, while one exists between carbon and chlorine.
• Hence, CH₃Cl is a hydrogen bond.