Hydrogen bond is the term given to the relatively weak secondary interaction between a hydrogen atom — Chemical Bonding Chemistry Question
Question
Hydrogen bond is the term given to the relatively weak secondary interaction between a hydrogen atom bound to an electronegative atom and another atom which is also generally electronegative and which has one or more lone pairs and can thus acts as a base. We can give the following generalized representation of a hydrogen bond. X^{\delta-}—H^{\delta+}...Y Bond dissociation energy of H-bond ranges from 8 to 42 kJ/mol, and the most commonly encountered hydrogen bonds are O—H...O, N—H...O and F—H...R
💡 Solution & Explanation
Step 1: Understand that the potential energy of a bonding system reaches a minimum at the optimum internuclear distance (bond length), balancing attractions and repulsions. Step 2: If the internuclear distance is decreased below this optimum distance, the nuclei and core electron clouds are forced too close together. Step 3: This leads to a massive, steep increase in potential energy due to the sharp increase in electrostatic repulsions between the positively charged nuclei and between the negatively charged electron clouds.