Question
What characteristics do you expect from an electron-deficient hydride with respect to its structure and chemical reactions?
✓
Answer
An electron-deficient hydride does not have sufficient electrons to form a regular bond in which two electrons are shared by two atoms e.g., $\mathrm{B}_2 \mathrm{H}_6, \mathrm{Al}_2 \mathrm{H}_6$ etc.
These hydrides cannot be represented by conventional Lewis structures. $\mathrm{B}_2 \mathrm{H}_6$, for example, contains four regular bonds and two three centered-two electron bond. Its structure can be represented as,
Since these hydrides are electron-deficient, they have a tendency to accept electrons. Hence, they act as Lewis acids.
$\text{B}_2\text{H}_6+2\text{NM}_3\xrightarrow{\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }2\text{B}\text{H}_3\cdot\text{NMe}_3$
These hydrides cannot be represented by conventional Lewis structures. $\mathrm{B}_2 \mathrm{H}_6$, for example, contains four regular bonds and two three centered-two electron bond. Its structure can be represented as,
Since these hydrides are electron-deficient, they have a tendency to accept electrons. Hence, they act as Lewis acids.
$\text{B}_2\text{H}_6+2\text{NM}_3\xrightarrow{\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }2\text{B}\text{H}_3\cdot\text{NMe}_3$
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