Heteronuclear diatomics (intro: CO, NO)
Advanced Chemical Bonding · Chemistry
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CO has a tiny dipole with carbon NEGATIVE. Explain this anomaly. Step 1: Oxygen is more electronegative, so you'd expect O^δ⁻. Step 2: But CO's HOMO (σ2p) is mainly carbon's lone pair sticking out. Step 3: This lone pair dominates the charge distribution → C^δ⁻–O^δ⁺. Step 4: Consequence: CO bonds to metals through CARBON (carbonyls: M–C≡O)!