3
$\begingroup$

Carbonyl Group Double Bonds

[...]

One pair of the oxygen lone pairs are located in 2s while the other pair are in 2p orbital where its axis is directed perpendicular to the direction of the pi orbitals.

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/?title=Organic_Chemistry/Aldehydes_and_Ketones/Properties_of_Aldehydes_%26_Ketones/The_Carbonyl_Group

How can a lone pair on the carbonyl oxygen be in a p orbital? Neither of the electrons in a carbonyl oxygen can be delocalized.

This seems to be more along the lines of what I'm thinking:

enter image description here

|improve this question
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ It's may be possible 'cause hybridization is lame ;) Also I heard that's just the situation in water molecule. That simply means that sp2 hybr. would be more appropriate for oxygen. $\endgroup$ – Mithoron Nov 3 '15 at 23:17
  • $\begingroup$ @Mithoron It may be lame but hybridization represents the upper bound of some professors' knowledges. $\endgroup$ – Dissenter Nov 3 '15 at 23:29
  • $\begingroup$ I can write up an answer later, but you could actually look at the MO diagram for formaldehyde and see which hybridisation scheme best reproduces the MO energy levels qualitatively. Sorry that was a bit of a mouthful. $\endgroup$ – orthocresol♦ Nov 4 '15 at 8:34
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Short answer: Both descriptions are wrong and both descriptions are somewhat correct. $\endgroup$ – Jan Nov 4 '15 at 9:25

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.