Question
What characteristics do you expect from an electron-deficient hydride with respect to its structure and chemical reactivity ?
Solution
Since electron deficient hydrides have lesser electrons to form normal covalent bonds, therefore we expect the following characteristics from these hydrides:
(i) They generally exist in polymeric forms such as B2H6, B4H10.(AlH3)n etc.
(ii) They react with many metals, non-metals and their compounds. Hence these hydrides are very reactive.
(iii) They act as Lewis acids and thus form complexes with Lewis bases.
(i) They generally exist in polymeric forms such as B2H6, B4H10.(AlH3)n etc.
(ii) They react with many metals, non-metals and their compounds. Hence these hydrides are very reactive.
(iii) They act as Lewis acids and thus form complexes with Lewis bases.
