What is the Lewis structure of #"dinitrogen pentoxide"#?

1 Answer
anor277
Sep 29, 2016

Nitrogen is formally quaternized in #N_2O_5#, and each nitrogen bears a formal positive charge.

Explanation:

The central oxygen atom is neutral. There are #2xx5(N)+5xx6(O)# #=# #40" valence electrons" ="20 electron pairs."#

And thus a Lewis structure of #(O=)^+N(O^-)O(O^-)N^+(=O)# is reasonable. Clearly, the terminal oxygen atoms are equivalent by resonance. You should practise drawing out the different resonance isomers.

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