Formaldehyde Lewis Structure: Drawing and Detailed Explanations

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Formaldehyde Lewis structure could be a great discussion to provide knowledge about the drawing process of Lewis structure of the compounds. This article would be described with detailed justification of the structure.

Formaldehyde is an organic compound, which contains only carbon,  oxygen and hydrogen molecules. The chemical formula of formaldehyde is HCHO (CH2O). The Lewis structure of the compound is only responsible for identifying the participation of electrons in making the molecular structure.

Phenol formaldehyde is an example of compound, which shows the chemical properties of formaldehyde. Therefore, description of the Lewis dot structure of that compound would also be relevant in engaging better idea about Formaldehyde.

The Lewis structures are drawn and being described below:

Formaldehyde Lewis structure

Drawing the Lewis dot structure of Formaldehyde is important factors to represent the internal arrangements of the elections in the compounds. As there are three different atoms participate to make formaldehyde, the Lewis structure of the compound is quite an interesting one in chemistry.

The Lewis dot structure of formaldehyde represents the total number of valance election present in the company. After putting the valance electrons in right places and describing, the sharing of the electrons with each other is the main purpose of this section to illustrate.

Steps of drawing

At first, it is important to identify the number of participating elements in the formation of this compound. There is one carbon, two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms participate in the formation of Formaldehyde.

The total number of valance electron in carbon atom is four, in oxygen is six and in hydrogen atom is one. As two hydrogen atoms are present in formaldehyde the total, number of hydrogen is 2*1 = 2.

Therefore, the total number of valance electrons present in formaldehyde is (4+6+2) = 12. The dots in the picture represent the electrons in the compound.

Now, it is important to identify the atom that would take in the centre position in the compound. Normally the least electronegative atom is placed in the centre in Lewis diagram. Hydrogen does not possess two electrons, which should be the least amount of electron in atom for having the central position in Lewis diagram therefore it is obvious that hydrogen cannot take the central position.

Formaldehyde Lewis Structure Drawing

On the other hand, the amounts of electronegativity of oxygen and carbon atoms are 3.44 and 2.55 respectively. As carbon is the least electronegative atom in the group of the atoms in Formaldehyde, it takes the central position.

The last step of drawing the Lewis structure of the compound is to connect the atoms with bonds. Now the bond types depend on the number of electrons shared by the elements. As two hydrogen atoms and carbon share two single electrons therefore; carbon makes two single bonds with two different hydrogen atoms.

formaldehyde lewis structure
Formaldehyde Lewis structure from Wikipedia

The urge of electron in oxygen is two and after sharing two valance electrons there are two remaining valance electrons present in carbon. Those pair of electrons is undergoing sharing with the pair of electron of oxygen. They share two pair of electrons and crates double covalent bonds.

Lewis structure of Formaldehyde holds two lone pairs as well as two single covalent bonds and one double covalent bond. It will be significant to identify the formal charges of the individual atoms in formaldehyde for better idea. The formal charges of each element are zero.

Lewis dot structure of Phenol formaldehyde

The chemical reaction between phenol and formaldehyde gives the product as polymer resin, which is called phenol formaldehyde resin or phenol formaldehyde polymer.

The main purpose of this study is to focus on the Lewis structure of the compound. As the compound holds a benzene ring therefore, the structure becomes quite complicated.

As the description of Lewis structure has been given above. Now, it is required to understand the Lewis structure of Phenol. Phenol contains a benzene ring with a alcoholic group in its first carbon instead of single hydrogen.

The total number of valance electrons in phenol is (6*4) + (6*1) + 2 = 32 as here six carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms and one oxygen take place in electron sharing process.

phenol
Structure of Phenol from Wikipedia

The bonds between the carbons are double bonds. All the bonds are considered as covalent bonds. However, in phenol the double bonds between carbon atoms can be found as they share two electrons with each other. The bond of carbon with the oxygen of alcoholic group is found to be single here as oxygen shares another electron with hydrogen and holds two lone pairs.

This phenol and formaldehyde reacts with each other in presence of acid or base and gives out phenol formaldehyde resin.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question 1: What is the simplest Aldehyde compound in chemistry?

Answer: Formaldehyde is the simplest aldehyde in chemistry. When the carbon in aldehyde group hold only one hydrogen atom instead of any complex compound then it is called Formaldehyde.

Question 2: What does the Lewis structure of Formaldehyde say about the compound?

Answer: The Lewis structure of Formaldehyde simply denotes the molecular arrangement or electronic share in formaldehyde.

Question 3: Does Formaldehyde found in human body?

Answer: Every human produces 1.5 ounce of formaldehyde everyday through metabolism process.

Question 4: What is the product of the reaction between phenol and formaldehyde?

Answer: Phenol formaldehyde resin is formed after reaction between phenol and formaldehyde. Otherwise, in presence of acid or base the reaction gives out Ortho or Para benzyl alcoholic compound.

Question 5: Is formaldehyde toxic compound? How it affects human body?

Answer: Formaldehyde is toxic for human beings. It can create irritation in eyes, nose or any sensitive area of human body if directly comes in contact. It can damage DNA internally in the body.

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