Chapter 1.5, Problem 5LTS

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation: For the given methanol compound the location of the partial charges that results due to inductive effect should be identified.

Concept Introduction:

The nature of the bond depends on the electronegativity values of the shared electron pair of the involved atoms.

Electronegativity is the important chemical property of the elements in the periodic table.  It is the tendency of the atoms to attract electrons towards it.

If the difference in electronegativity is between 0.5 and 1.7, a bond between two different electronegative atoms becomes polar.  Most electronegative atoms get partial negative charge because they attract electrons from least electronegative atom towards it.  The least electronegative atoms get partial positive charge because it loses electrons towards most electronegative atoms.

The process of the attraction of electrons from electron-donating atoms (less electronegative atoms) towards electron-withdrawing atoms (most electronegative atoms) is called induction.  It can be represented by the following arrow:

The symbol represents the direction of dipole moment change in a polar covalent bond.

Here, chlorine atom has more electronegative than carbon atom.  Chlorine attracts electrons towards it.  This difference in electron density is called inductive effect.  It can be shown by Greek symbol delta ( $\delta$) as follows:

To find: The location of the partial charges in the given methanol compound