MagicJigPipe
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Nitric Oxide Bonding
Could someone please explain to me (quickly if possible) why nitric oxide can form (N triple O). I know it is a resonance structure but I need to
know why. As in, the "theory" behind it. I know how to make it work on paper, but why?
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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12AX7
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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=nitrogen+oxide+mole...
I guess it's more like, a triple bond minus one half. It's a radical, so it's got an extra electron. It's not a "desirable" electron, all alone in
an antibonding orbital, but it makes the molecule charge-neutral, which is more important. And I guess the 2.5 order bond is still strong enough to
stick together, so it works.
Tim
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JohnWW
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It is the nitrosyl cation, NO+, or N[triplebond]O(+), formed when nitric oxide loses the unpaired electron, that contains a triple bond (and
tetravalent O). It occurs as a cation only as the salt of the strongest acids, although covalent organic nitrosyl compounds exist.
Nitric Oxide, itself, NO, contains an unpaired electron, •N=O, and a double bond. In spite of this, it shows very little tendency to dimerize, which
may be evidence that it has a canonical form to some extent in which the unpaired electron forms a single-electron third bond, with a resulting
partial positive charge on the O atom and partial negative charge on the N atom. (Measurement of its dipole moment would confirm this).
There is also the nitrosyl or nitroxide anion, obtained by NO gaining an electron, (-)N=O, from an highly electropositive metal by direct (and highly
exothermic) reaction.
[Edited on 29-9-09 by JohnWW]
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MagicJigPipe
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Thank you very much. Unfortunately I didn't get the answer in time to win my argument but oh well. With learning, everybody wins! *with fake
over-enthusiasm*
I kept coming up with a lone electron on nitrogen (for it to be neutral with a double bond). I get it now.
Oh yeah, I found some cool characters that I need to keep handy from now on: ≡∫≈±‡†√∑∞ Look! N≡O!
Awesome! We can use the 'identical to' sign for triple bonds.
Again, thanks.
[Edited on 9-29-2009 by MagicJigPipe]
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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