BASIC CONCEPTS IN

CHEMICAL BONDS

 covalent bonds, which hold the

atoms within an individual molecule
together, are formed by the sharing
of electrons in the outer atomic
orbitals. The distribution of shared as
well as unshared electrons in outer
orbitals is a major determinant of the
three-dimensional shape and
chemical reactivity of molecules.

 Electrons move around thenucleusof an atom in

clouds calledorbitals,which lie in a series of
concentricshells,or energy levels; electrons in outer
shells have more energy than those in inner shells.
Each shell has a maximum number of electrons that
it can hold. Electrons fill the innermost shells of an
atom first; then the outer shells. The energy level of
an atom is lowest when all of its orbitals are filled,
and an atoms reactivity depends on how many
electrons it needs to complete its outermost orbital.
In most cases, in order to fill the outermost orbital,
the electrons within it form covalent bonds with
other atoms. Acovalent bondthus holds two atoms
close together because electrons in their outermost
orbitals are shared by both atoms.

 Most of the molecules in living systems contain

only six different atoms: hydrogen, carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. The
outermost orbital of each atom has a characteristic
number of electrons:

These atoms readily form covalent bonds with

other atoms and rarely exist as isolated entities. As
a rule, each type of atom forms a characteristic
number of covalent bonds with other atoms.

 For example, a hydrogen atom, with one

electron in its outer shell, forms only one
bond, such that its outermost orbital becomes
filled with two electrons. A carbon atom has
four electrons in its outermost orbitals; it
usually forms four bonds, as in methane
(CH4), in order to fill its outermost orbital with
eight electrons. The single bonds in methane
that connect the carbon atom with each
hydrogen atom contain two shared electrons,
one donated from the C and the other from
the H, and the outer (s) orbital of each H atom
is filled by the two shared electrons.

Electron shells
Eachshellis subdivided intosubshells, which are
made up oforbitals, each of which has electrons with
different angular momentum. Each orbital in a shell
has a characteristic shape, and is named by a letter.
They are:s,p,d, andf. In a one-electron atom (e.g. H,
He+, Li+, etc.) the energy of each orbital within a
particular shell is identical.
However, when there are multiple electrons, they
interact and split the orbitals into slightly different
energies. Within any particular shell, the energy of the
orbitals depend on the angular momentum of orbitals
s, p, d, and f in order of lowest to highest energy. No
two orbitals have the same energy level.