Explain structures of diborane and boric acid.
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(a) Diborane
B2H6 is an electron-deficient compound. B2H6 has only 12 electrons – 6 e– from 6 H atoms and 3 e– each from 2 B atoms. Thus, after combining with 3 H atoms, none of the boron atoms has any electrons left. X-ray diffraction studies have shown the structure of diborane as:
2 boron and 4 terminal hydrogen atoms (Ht) lie in one plane, while the other two bridging hydrogen atoms (Hb) lie in a plane perpendicular to the plane of boron atoms. Again, of the two bridging hydrogen atoms, one H atom lies above the plane and the other lies below the plane. The terminal bonds are regular two-centre two-electron (2c – 2e–) bonds, while the two bridging (B–H–B) bonds are three-centre two-electron (3c – 2e–) bonds.
Option 1 is correct. It contains four 2c-2e bonds and two 3c-2e bonds.
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