Question #a5716

1 Answer
Feb 26, 2017

There are 15 σ and 4 π bonds in a molecule of salicylaldehyde.

Explanation:

The main things to remember are:

  • Every bond contains a σ bond
  • Every double bond also contains a π bond

The structure of salicylaldehyde is

toxnet.nlm.nih.gov

Note that there are four unshown #"C-H"# bonds on the aromatic ring.

Thus, there are 5 #"C-H"# bonds, 4 #"C-C"# bonds, 1 #"C-O"# bond, 1 #"O-H"# bond, 3 #"C=C"# bonds and 1 #"C=O"# bond.

This makes a total of 15 bonds, so there are 15 σ bonds.

There are 4 double bonds (3 #"C=C"# and 1 #"C=O"#), so there are 4 π bonds.