Thursday, May 24, 2018

Why don't metals form covalent bonds in bulk metal?


I really don't understand why metals form metallic bonds. I mean, it makes no sense. It would make much more sense for them to form covalent bonds with themselves and have a 'pseudo-full' outer shell. How does freeing off electrons make them any more stable?



Answer



This is due to the low ionization energies of the metals. It's easier for them to release few electrons from the outer shell to obtain a noble gas configuration rather than consuming several ones. However, the difference between an ionic and a polar covalent bond is always fringe.


Again, it's not true that metals don't form covalent bonds at all. I guess you never heard of quadruple bond or δ-bond. There are several examples such as $\ce{K2[Re2Cl8]·2H2O}$ and Chromium(II) acetate hydrate.


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