Can someone please explain the basics of hydrogen bonding?
1 Answer
Hydrogen bonding is the strongest intermolecular force of attraction. It occurs when you have a hydrogen atom bonded to the 3 smallest/most electronegative atoms (Nitrogen, Oxygen, or Fluorine) which will create a positive dipole on the hydrogen and a negative dipole on the N, O, or F. This dipole will attract oppositely charged dipoles close to it.
The reason why a hydrogen dipole is stronger than other positive dipoles is that when hydrogen has its electrons pulled away by a more electronegative atom the only thing remaining is a positively charged proton. Whereas other positive dipoles still have electrons (negative charges) in their lower shells.
