Polar bonds in organic chemistry
Some examples of polar bonds in organic chemistry are:
| Bond | Polarity | Reactivity |
|---|---|---|
| C-Li | 1.5 | Lithium, as a metal, is highly electropositive, resulting in the C-Li bond being polarized towards carbon. This makes the carbon atom nucleophilic, and alkaline. |
| O-H | 1.4 | The bond is polarized towards the highly electronegative oxygen atom, resulting in the hydrogen atom being acidic. |
| C-O | 1.0 | The bond is polarized towards the highly electronegative oxygen atom, resulting in the carbon atom being electrophilic. |
| N-H | 0.9 | The bond is polarized towards the more electronegative nitrogen atom. The reactivity is dominated by the nitrogen atom being nucleophilic. |
| C-Cl | 0.5 | The bond is polarized towards the more electronegative chlorine atom. Furthermore, Cl- is a good leaving group. This makes the C atom electrophilic. |
| C-N | 0.5 | The bond is polarized towards the more electronegative nitrogen atom. Nitrogen is a good nucleophile. |