Valence (chemistry)

In chemistry, valence, also known as valency or valence number, is a measure of the number of bonds formed by an atom of a given element. "Valence" can be defined as the number of valence bonds[1] a given atom has formed, or can form, with one or more other atoms. For most elements the number of bonds can vary. The IUPAC definition limits valence to the maximum number of univalent atoms that may combine with the atom, that is the maximum number of valence bonds that is possible for the given element.[2]

The valence of an element depends on the number of valence electrons that may be involved in the forming of valence bonds. A univalent (monovalent) atom, ion or group has a valence of one and thus can form one covalent bond. A divalent molecular entity has a valence of two and can form two sigma bonds to two different atoms or one sigma bond plus one pi bond to a single atom.[3] Alkyl groups and hydroxyl ions are univalent examples; oxo ligands are divalent.

Over the last century, the concept of valence evolved into a range of approaches for describing the chemical bond, including Lewis structures (1916), valence bond theory (1927), molecular orbitals (1928), valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (1958) and all the advanced methods of quantum chemistry.

In cyclohexanonoxime (image left), the nitrogen atom has three valence bonds and by the first definition it has a valence of three. Nitrogen has five valence electrons and by IUPAC definition it has a valence of five, because it can form maximal five valence bonds, as in N-methyl-1-phenylmethanimine oxide [1]. In cyclohexanonoxime, nitrogen has the oxidation state −1 and oxygen −2.

Contents

History

The etymology of the word "valence" traces back to 1425, meaning "extract, preparation," from Latin valentia "strength, capacity," and the chemical meaning referring to the "combining power of an element" is recorded from 1884, from German Valenz.[4]

In 1789, William Higgins published views on what he called combinations of "ultimate" particles, which foreshadowed the concept of valency bonds.[5] If, for example, according to Higgins, the force between the ultimate particle of oxygen and the ultimate particle of nitrogen were 6, then the strength of the force would be divided accordingly, and likewise for the other combinations of ultimate particles (see illustration).

The exact inception, however, of the theory of chemical valencies can be traced to an 1852 paper by Edward Frankland, in which he combined the older theories of free radicals and “type theory” with thoughts on chemical affinity to show that certain elements have the tendency to combine with other elements to form compounds containing 3, i.e. in the three atom groups (e.g., NO3, NH3, NI3, etc.) or 5, i.e. in the five atom groups (e.g., NO5, NH4O, PO5, etc.), equivalents of the attached elements. It is in this manner, according to Frankland, that their affinities are best satisfied. Following these examples and postulates, Frankland declares how obvious it is that:[6]

“ A tendency or law prevails (here), and that, no matter what the characters of the uniting atoms may be, the combining power of the attracting element, if I may be allowed the term, is always satisfied by the same number of these atoms. ”

This “combining power” was afterwards called quantivalence or valency (and valence by American chemists).[5]

Covalence

The concept of covalence was developed in the middle of the nineteenth century in an attempt to rationalize the formulae of different chemical compounds. In 1919, Irving Langmuir, borrowed the term to explain Gilbert N. Lewis's cubical atom model by stating that "the number of pairs of electrons which any given atom shares with the adjacent atoms is called the covalence of that atom." The prefix co- means "together", so that a co-valent bond means that the atoms share valence. Hence, if an atom, for example, had a +1 valence, meaning it has one valence electron beyond the complete shell, and another a −1 valence, meaning it requires one electron to complete its outer shell (missing an electron) , then a bond between these two atoms would result because they would be complementing or sharing their out of balance valence tendencies. Subsequent to this, it is now more common to speak of covalent bonds rather than "valence", which has fallen out of use in higher level work with the advances in the theory of chemical bonding, but is still widely used in elementary studies where it provides a heuristic introduction to the subject.

Common valences

For elements in the main groups of the periodic table, the valence can vary between one to seven, but usually these elements form a number of valence bonds between one and four. The number of bonds formed by a given element was originally thought to be a fixed chemical property. In fact, in most cases this is not true. For example, phosphorus often has a valence of three, but can also have other valences.

Nevertheless, many elements have a common valence related to their position in the periodic table, following the octet rule. Elements in the main groups 1 (alkali metals) and 17 (halogens) commonly have a valence of 1; elements in groups 2 (alkaline earth metals) and 16 (chalcogens) valence 2; elements in groups 13 (boron group) and 15 (nitrogen group) valence 3; elements in group 14 (carbon group) valence 4.

Valence versus oxidation state

Because of the ambiguity of the term valence,[3] nowadays other notations are used in practice. Beside the system of oxidation numbers as used in Stock nomenclature for coordination compounds ,[7] and the lambda notation, as used in the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry ,[8] "oxidation state" is a more clear indication of the electronic state of atoms in a molecule.

The "oxidation state" of an atom in a molecule gives the number of valence electrons it has gained or lost.[9] In contrast to the valency number, the oxidation state can be positive (for an electropositive atom) or negative (for an electronegative atom).

Elements in a high oxidation state can have a valence larger than four. For example, in perchlorates, chlorine has seven valence bonds and ruthenium, in the +8 oxidation state in ruthenium(VIII) tetroxide, has even eight valence bonds.

"Maximum number of bonds" definition

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has made several attempts to arrive at an unambiguous definition of valence. The current version, adopted in 1994,[10]:

The maximum number of univalent atoms (originally hydrogen or chlorine atoms) that may combine with an atom of the element under consideration, or with a fragment, or for which an atom of this element can be substituted.[2]

Hydrogen and chlorine were originally used as examples of univalent atoms, because of their nature to form only one single bond. Hydrogen has only one valence electron and can form only one bond with an atom that has an incomplete outer shell. Chlorine has seven valence electrons and can form only one bond with an atom that donates a valence electron to complete chlorine's outer shell. However, chlorine can also have oxidation states from +1 to +7 and can form more than one bond by donating valence electrons.

Although hydrogen has only one valence electron, it can form bonds with more than one atom in hypervalent bonds. In the bifluoride ion ([HF2]−), for example, it forms a three-center four-electron bond with two fluoride atoms: [\ F \frac{\quad}{\quad} H\ {}^-\!F \quad \longleftrightarrow \quad F^- \ {}\!H \frac{\quad}{\quad} F\ ]

Another example is the Three-center two-electron bond in diborane (B2H6).

Examples

(valencies according to the number of valence bonds definition and conform oxidation states)

COMPOUND FORMULA VALENCE OXIDATION STATE
Hydrogen chloride HCl H=1   Cl=1 H=+1   Cl=−1
Chlorine Cl2 Cl=1   Cl=1 Cl=+1   Cl=−1
Perchlorate * HClO4 H=1   Cl=7   O=2 H=+1   Cl=+7   O=−2
Sodium hydride NaH Na=1   H=1 Na=+1   H=−1
Ferrous oxide ** FeO Fe=2   O=2 Fe=+2   O=−2
Ferric oxide ** Fe2O3 Fe=3   O=2 Fe=+3   O=−2

* The univalent perchlorate ion (ClO4−) has valence 1.
** Iron oxide appears in a crystal structure, so no typical molecule can be identified.
  In ferrous oxide, Fe has oxidation number II, in ferric oxide, oxidation number III.

Maximum valences of the elements

Maximum valences for the majority of elements are based on the highest known fluoride. Note that valence of hydrogen (H) and of fluorine (F) are both one. Astatine (At) is predicted to have a maximum valence of seven like iodine (I) but is not known to have compounds with a valency above one.

Group → 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
↓ Period
1 1
H		 2
He
2 3
Li		 4
Be		 5
B		 6
C		 7
N		 8
O		 9
F		 10
Ne
3 11
Na		 12
Mg		 13
Al		 14
Si		 15
P		 16
S		 17
Cl		 18
Ar
4 19
K		 20
Ca		 21
Sc		 22
Ti		 23
V		 24
Cr		 25
Mn		 26
Fe		 27
Co		 28
Ni		 29
Cu		 30
Zn		 31
Ga		 32
Ge		 33
As		 34
Se		 35
Br		 36
Kr
5 37
Rb		 38
Sr		 39
Y		 40
Zr		 41
Nb		 42
Mo		 43
Tc		 44
Ru		 45
Rh		 46
Pd		 47
Ag		 48
Cd		 49
In		 50
Sn		 51
Sb		 52
Te		 53
I		 54
Xe
6 55
Cs		 56
Ba		 *
 72
Hf		 73
Ta		 74
W		 75
Re		 76
Os		 77
Ir		 78
Pt		 79
Au		 80
Hg		 81
Tl		 82
Pb		 83
Bi		 84
Po		 85
At		 86
Rn
7 87
Fr		 88
Ra		 **
 104
Rf		 105
Db		 106
Sg		 107
Bh		 108
Hs		 109
Mt		 110
Ds		 111
Rg		 112
Cn		 113
Uut		 114
Uuq		 115
Uup		 116
Uuh		 117
Uus		 118
Uuo
* Lanthanides 57
La		 58
Ce		 59
Pr		 60
Nd		 61
Pm		 62
Sm		 63
Eu		 64
Gd		 65
Tb		 66
Dy		 67
Ho		 68
Er		 69
Tm		 70
Yb		 71
Lu
** Actinides 89
Ac		 90
Th		 91
Pa		 92
U		 93
Np		 94
Pu		 95
Am		 96
Cm		 97
Bk		 98
Cf		 99
Es		 100
Fm		 101
Md		 102
No		 103
Lr

Maximum valences of chemical elements

  Zero
  One
  Two
  Three
  Four
  Five
  Six
  Seven
Atomic number colors show state of matter at standard conditions (0 °C and 1 atm):
Solids Liquids Gases Unknown
Borders show natural occurrence:
Primordial From decay Synthetic

See also

References

  1. ^ Note: A valence bond (or bonding equivalent) is a covalent or ionic bond, formed by the interaction of two bonding electrons.
  2. ^ a b IUPAC Gold Book definition: valence
  3. ^ a b The Free Dictionary: valence
  4. ^ Valence - Online Etymology Dictionary.
  5. ^ a b Partington, J.R. (1989). A Short History of Chemistry. Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-486-65977-1. 
  6. ^ Frankland, E. (1852). Phil. Trans., vol. cxlii, 417.
  7. ^ IUPAC, Gold Book definition: oxidation number
  8. ^ IUPAC, Gold Book definition: lambda
  9. ^ IUPAC Gold Book definition: oxidation state
  10. ^ Pure Appl. Chem. 66: 1175 (1994).
Layouts
List of elements by
Groups
Other element categories
Blocks
Periods
  • Book:Periodic table
  • Category:Periodic table
  • Portal:Chemistry