Organic Chemistry (8th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321768418
ISBN 13: 978-0-32176-841-4

Chapter 1 - Introduction and Review - Problems - Page 13: Problem 1-6 a

Answer

Carbon has 4 bonds and H has 1 bond, so both carbon and hydrogen have a formal charge of 0. However, Oxygen forms two bonds to have a formal charge of 0. Since Oxygen has 3 bonds, the formal charge of Oxygen is +1. This can be determined using the formal charge formula.

Work Step by Step

Formal Charge (FC) = [number of valence electrons] - [number of non-bonding electrons] - $\frac{1}{2}$ [shared electrons] FC (oxygen)= 6-2-3 = +1 FC (carbon)= 4-0-4 = 0 FC (hydrogen) = 1-0-1 = 0
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