Researchers Discover New type of Ultra-strong Chemical Bond

Recently, scientists have discovered a new type of chemical bond and it is very strong. This new discovery can be a big step in having a deeper understanding of strong bonding and the intermediate reaction states.

Key Points

  • The new type of bond discovered by the scientists shows that the divide between strong covalent bonds and weak hydrogen bonds.
  • Powerful covalent bonds bind the molecules together while the weak hydrogen bonds form between molecules and can be broken easily by stirring salt into a glass of water.
  • Ionic bonds bind metals and non-metals to form salts.
  • Strong covalent bonds bind molecules like water and carbon dioxide. Covalent, Ionic, and hydrogen bonds are all relatively stable and last for extended periods of time.
  • Till now researchers have known that during a chemical reaction, the formation or breaking of chemical bonds involves “intermediate states” which exist only for tiny fractions of a second and are very difficult to observe.
  • In the new study, the researchers have managed to keep these intermediate states going for a longer time and made a detailed examination.
  • After examination, the scientists found a hydrogen bond with the strength of a covalent bond. This hydrogen bond binds atoms together into something similar to a molecule.
  • In the experiment in which the researchers found the hydrogen bond, they dissolved a hydrogen-fluoride compound in water. After this, they examined how the fluorine and hydrogen atoms reacted.
  • It was seen that the fluorine atoms were attracted to the hydrogen atoms and each hydrogen atom was tended to be sandwiched between two fluorine atoms.
  • But the sandwich of two fluorine atoms and hydrogen atom was bound together with greater strength as compared to the typical hydrogen bonds.
  • The hydrogen atoms were bouncing between the fluorine atoms and formed strong bonds similar to covalent bonds looking like molecules. It should be noted that hydrogen bonds should not be able to form such strong bonds.
  • The electrostatic mechanism of the new bond showed that it involved some differences in positive and negative charges that define hydrogen bonds.

The new bonds had the strength of 45.8 kilocalories per mol which is greater than some covalent bonds.