oohpsjin Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Ether (R-O-R') can't form hydrogen bonds. But alcohol can (-OH). But why can't ethers form H-bonds if they have the O, and the H atoms on the alkyl groups ®? Apparently something to do with ether being a good H-bond "acceptor" but not a good H-bond "donor"...confused and need help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebird Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 You're question is a bit confusing, but I'm assuming you mean why ethers can't H-bond with themselves. You actually pointed out the reason yourself. While the oxygen of an ether is a reasonable electron acceptor (due to its high electronegativity), the hydrogen of a C-H bond is not a very good electron donor as the dipole created by the electronegativity difference between C and H is negligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafield Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Just to elaborate on the exlpanation a N, O, F with a free lone pair will accept hydrogen bonds while an N, O, F bonded to a hydrogen can donate them... Basically just what the poster above said in the form of a rule for the mcat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantaloons Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Just remember: Hydrogen bonds are FON!! /lame, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 reqs a partial neg on O and a partial pos on H no partial pos in a c-h bond, even though partial neg in the ether Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oohpsjin Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 a BIG thank you to everyone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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