0

I am in an honors chemistry course right now and I would like to know the formal charges of the atoms in CO, my confusion is that because the bond is partially coordinate covalent, are the bonded electrons still counted as #bonds/2 or should I count the number of electrons donated by each atom (making the formal charge 0 for both) Please help me understand and explain WHYnot just how. Thanks a lot.

MrWickerWeaver
  • 13
  • 3
  • CO is a more complex molecule and analyzing it as having a dative bond and 'normal' covalent bonds is bound to get you into trouble. https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/a/31003/7448 – M.A.R. Jun 06 '19 at 15:13

1 Answers1

0

The coordinate covalent bonds are still counted as 1 electron, since the pair is shared between both atoms. That means the Carbon will have a formal charge of -1 and Oxygen a formal charge of +1 on Carbon Monoxide.

Carbon FC: $\ce{(4 valence electrons on neutral atom) - (1*2e- from lone pair + 3*1e- from covalent bonds) = -1}$

Oxygen FC: $\ce{(6 valence electrons on neutral atom) - (1*2e- from lone pair + 3*1e- from covalent bonds) = +1}$

IanC
  • 757
  • 5
  • 14