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You may have heard of things like chemical molecules that don’t have any C-H bonds. These compounds are known as “inorganic compounds.” These compounds do not have carbon and are not called not organic. The inorganic compound is boron trifluoride with formula BF3. BF3 is colourless, poisonous gas that has no colour. In damp air, it releases white vapours and is soluble if it is in the form of a colourless liquid (i.e., dihydrate.)
Molecular Geometry of BF3
The BF3 molecule exhibits a ‘Trigonal Planar’ geometry. This model contains three atoms that wrap around one atom in the centre and is referred to as a ‘Trigonal Planar’. This plane seems like all peripheral atoms exist in one place. There are 120° bond angles on each of them that make them an equilateral triangle.
BF3 Lewis Structure
For determining the lewis structure, you need to calculate the total number of valence electrons for the BF3 molecule. The central atom can be BF3 which has 24 valence electrons, which must be rearranged around it.
You also need to count the number of valence electrons in Boron Trifluoride and then position them correctly before completing the octets. Boron will be the least electronegative element at the core of its structure, and its outer shell also needs six valence electrons. Even though Boron only has six valence electrons, we can see that the Boron Trifluoride Lewis structure’s formal charges are zero.
How can we draw the BF3 Lewis Structure?
To draw a Lewis Structure, you need to start adding electrons and connecting them. There are 24 electrons here, and then we should add octets of the outer atom. And additional electrons for the central atom, now add octets and extra electrons. Therefore, there are no extra electrons (24 minus 24 equals 0).
Violations (exceptions and rules)
One thing to remember is that while sketching Lewis’s structures, the Octet Rules can be broken in these three scenarios. However, we don’t need to understand it every time as these rules are rare and happen only in extreme circumstances.
Exception 1: If the octet has an odd number of valence electrons like 3,5,7, etc.
Exception 2: If the octet has very few valence electrons
Exception 3: If the strict has too many valence electrons.
In the figure below, you can see that the central electron has an octet because it has six particles. Due to this, try adding more than one link to see if the core atom can complete one octet! It now has an octet, as you can see.
BF3 Hybridization
Hybridization is the process of combining atomic orbitals to form new hybrid orbitals. You can clearly understand this molecular geometry and nuclear bonding features. SP3, SP2, and BF3 hybridization can be some examples. If it is SP2 for this molecule will have a double bond between the Boron atoms that requires just one (pi) bond. Also, three bonds are produced per Boron atom. Boron’s outer shell atomic structure has S and P orbitals, generating three comparable SP2 hybrid orbitals.
BF3 Polarity
Polarity refers to the separation of electric charge in an electric dipole or multipole moment in a molecule or its corresponding groups. If we talk about inconsistency, there is no answer. BF3 is a nonpolar element, and it is the majority nonpolar when the difference in electronegativity between the two atoms is smaller than 0.5.
BF3 electron and molecular geometry
BF3 forms trigonal planar molecular geometry, as per the VSEPR theory, as Boron is the middle one with three B-F bonds with fluorine atoms on all sides. In trigonal planar molecular geometry, there is an F-B-F bond angle which has 120 degrees angles. It also includes three fluorine atoms; the BF3 molecule exhibits a trigonal planar geometric shape.
At the BF3 molecular geometry, there are three B-F bonds. These bonds maintain the planar-T-like structure after joining the three fluorine atoms in the trigonal planar form with no lone pairs of electrons left. The B-F bonds remain in the three terminals of the BF3 molecule, and there are no lone pairs of electrons at the top and bottom of the trigonal planar molecule present.
The centre boron atom of BF3 has no lone pairs of electrons, and due to this, there is a trigonal planar electron geometry. Thus, we can conclude that the molecular geometry of BF3 looks like a trigonal planar and has no lone pairs on the top and bottom of the BF3 geometry. It’s the BF3 molecule’s symmetrical geometry. As a result, you can say the BF3 molecule is nonpolar.
Conclusion
In this article, we learned how to sketch BF3 molecular geometry and found the process of finding the lone pairs of electrons in the central boron atom, along with BF3 hybridization and BF3 molecular notation. If you follow all the steps, you can easily draw the structure of BF3 Hybridization.
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