Organic Chemistry

Atomic structure

eight electrons, such as sulfur. Additionally, some noble gasses can form compounds when
expanding their valence shell.

5.5 Hybridization.

Hybridizationrefers to the combining of the orbitals of two or more covalently bonded
atoms. Depending on how many free electrons a given atom has and how many bonds it is
forming, the electrons in the s and the p orbitals will combine in certain manners to form
the bonds.

It is easy to determine the hybridization of an atom given a Lewis structure. First, you
count the number of pairs of free electrons and the number ofsigmabonds (single bonds).
Do not count double bonds, since they do not affect the hybridization of the atom. Once
the total of these two is determined, the hybridization pattern is as follows:

Sigma Bonds + Electron Pairs Hybridization

2 sp

3 sp^2

4 sp^3

The pattern here is the same as that for the electron orbitals, which serves as a memory
guide.