NH2F Lewis structure

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NH2F Lewis Structure
NH2F Lewis structure

NH2F (fluoroamine) has one nitrogen atom, two hydrogen atoms, and one fluorine atom.

In NH2F Lewis structure, there are three single bonds around the nitrogen atom, with two hydrogen atoms and one fluorine atom attached to it. The fluorine atom has three lone pairs, and the nitrogen atom has one lone pair.

Steps

Use these steps to correctly draw the NH2F Lewis structure:

#1 First draw a rough sketch
#2 Mark lone pairs on the atoms
#3 Calculate and mark formal charges on the atoms, if required

Let’s discuss each step in more detail.

#1 First draw a rough sketch

  • First, determine the total number of valence electrons
Periodic table

In the periodic table, nitrogen lies in group 15, hydrogen lies in group 1, and fluorine lies in group 17.

Hence, nitrogen has five valence electrons, hydrogen has one valence electron, and fluorine has seven valence electrons.

Since NH2F has one nitrogen atom, two hydrogen atoms, and one fluorine atom, so…

Valence electrons of one nitrogen atoms = 5 × 1 = 5
Valence electrons of two hydrogen atoms = 1 × 2 = 2
Valence electrons of one fluorine atom = 7 × 1 = 7

And the total valence electrons = 5 + 2 + 7 = 14

  • Second, find the total electron pairs

We have a total of 14 valence electrons. And when we divide this value by two, we get the value of total electron pairs.

Total electron pairs = total valence electrons ÷ 2

So the total electron pairs = 14 ÷ 2 = 7

  • Third, determine the central atom

Here hydrogen can not be the central atom. Because the central atom is bonded with at least two other atoms, and hydrogen has only one electron in its last shell, so it can not make more than one bond.

Now we have to choose the central atom from nitrogen and fluorine. Place the least electronegative atom at the center.

Since nitrogen is less electronegative than fluorine, assume that the central atom is nitrogen.

Therefore, place nitrogen in the center and hydrogen and fluorine on either side.

  • And finally, draw the rough sketch
NH2F Lewis Structure (Step 1)
Rough sketch of NH2F Lewis structure

#2 Mark lone pairs on the atoms

Here, we have a total of 7 electron pairs. And three bonds are already marked. So we have to only mark the remaining four electron pairs as lone pairs on the sketch.

Also remember that both (nitrogen and fluorine) are the period 2 elements, so they can not keep more than 8 electrons in their last shell. And hydrogen is a period 1 element, so it can not keep more than 2 electrons in its last shell.

Always start to mark the lone pairs from outside atoms. Here, the outside atoms are hydrogens, fluorine, and nitrogen. But no need to mark on hydrogen, because each hydrogen has already two electrons.

So for fluorine, there are three lone pairs, and for nitrogen, there is one lone pair.

Mark the lone pairs on the sketch as follows:

NH2F Lewis Structure (Step 2)
Lone pairs marked on NH2F Lewis structure

#3 Calculate and mark formal charges on the atoms, if required

Use the following formula to calculate the formal charges on atoms:

Formal charge = valence electrons – nonbonding electrons – ½ bonding electrons

For nitrogen atom, formal charge = 5 – 2 – ½ (6) = 0

For each hydrogen atom, formal charge = 1 – 0 – ½ (2) = 0

For fluorine atom, formal charge = 7 – 6 – ½ (2) = 0

Here, the atoms do not have charges, so no need to mark the charges.

In the above structure, you can see that the central atom (nitrogen) forms an octet. The outside atom (fluorine) also forms an octet, and both hydrogens form a duet. Hence, the octet rule and duet rule are satisfied.

Therefore, this structure is the stable Lewis structure of NH2F.

Next: CH3NH3+ Lewis structure

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Deep

Learnool.com was founded by Deep Rana, who is a mechanical engineer by profession and a blogger by passion. He has a good conceptual knowledge on different educational topics and he provides the same on this website. He loves to learn something new everyday and believes that the best utilization of free time is developing a new skill.

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