Question

The C-O-C angle in ether is about ?

• A. ${180}^{\circ }$
• B. ${190}^{\circ }{28}^{\prime }$
• C. ${110}^{\circ }$
• D. ${105}^{\circ }$

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

${110}^{\circ }$

Oxygen atom in ether is $s{p}^3$ hybridised, therefore has tetrahedral geometry where two positions are occupied by lone pair of electrons and the other two by the alkyl groups in ether. The bond angle in regular tetrahedral is ${109}^{\circ }{28}^{\prime }$. In general, the lone pairs on O tend to repel the bond pairs and results in lower bond angles than ${109}^{\circ }$ but in ethers the C-O-C bond angle is slightly more than this i.e nearly ${110}^{\circ }$. This is because of the presence of bulky alkyl group on O atom that repel each other and counterbalance the repulsion due to lone pair on O atom on bond pairs and results in bond angle slightly greater than tetrahedral angle.

Thus, C-O-C bond angle in ether is about ${110}^{\circ }$.