Final Exam

December 21, 2000

R. Küster, T. Drews, and K. Seppelt (p. 2784-2786) prepared PF₃H⁺. Draw the Lewis dot structure, predict all of the bond angles to ± 2^o, indicate the hybridization on the P atom, and give the point group for this cation.

Answer:

The electronegative F atoms will draw electron density, leading to repulsion between the P-F bonds. Thus, the F-P-F angles will open up to ~112^o and the H-P-F angles will decrease to ~107^o.

The P atom is sp³ hybridized.

The cation belongs to the C_3v point group.