Planar Molecules
- Planar molecules have all their atoms in the same plane
- Eg. linear, bent, trigonal planar and square planar
Molecules which have all their atoms in the same plane
- The presence of an sp2 hybridised carbon can force the molecule to adopt a plane configuration (trigonal planar)
- The 3 σ bonds position themselves in a trigonal planar position so that the bonding pair of electrons are as far away from each other and therefore minimise the repulsion between them
- Eg. ethene
Ethene is a planar molecule with two trigonal planar centres around the carbon atoms
- Eg. propene
Propene has two trigonal planar centres around the carbon-carbon double bond and one tetrahedral centre
- The presence of a sphybridised carbon can also force the molecule to adopt a planar configuration (linear)
- The 2 σ bonds position themselves in a linear position to minimise the repulsion between the bonding pairs of electrons
- ethyne
Ethyne is a planar molecule with one planar centre: the molecule is linear