{"id":236624,"date":"2025-06-16T11:21:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T11:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=236624"},"modified":"2025-06-16T11:22:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T11:22:01","slug":"the-acetate-ion-c2h3o2-has-both-oxygens-bonded-to-the-same-carbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/16\/the-acetate-ion-c2h3o2-has-both-oxygens-bonded-to-the-same-carbon\/","title":{"rendered":"The acetate ion, C2H3O2-, has both oxygens bonded to the same carbon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The acetate ion, C2H3O2-, has both oxygens bonded to the same carbon. Draw the Lewis structure and all resonance forms. H3C-C=O | O- Label the hybridization around each carbon: Pick one resonance structure and label the hybridization of each oxygen. How many pi bonds are present? Which atom carries the formal negative charge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image-579.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-236625\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Answers:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>a) Lewis structure and resonance forms:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The acetate ion (C2H3O2\u2212)(\\text{C}_2\\text{H}_3\\text{O}_2^-)(C2\u200bH3\u200bO2\u2212\u200b) has the following two resonance structures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Structure 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">mathematicaCopyEdit<code>   H   H\n    \\  |\nH - C - C (=O) - O\u207b\n       |\n       O\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Structure 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">mathematicaCopyEdit<code>   H   H\n    \\  |\nH - C - C (-O\u207b) = O\n       |\n       O\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Each structure shows a double bond between carbon and one oxygen, and a single bond between carbon and the negatively charged oxygen. The negative charge is delocalized between the two oxygen atoms through resonance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>b) Hybridization around each carbon:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Methyl carbon (CH\u2083): <strong>sp\u00b3<\/strong> hybridized (single bonds to three hydrogens and one carbon).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carbon in the carboxyl group (COO\u207b): <strong>sp\u00b2<\/strong> hybridized (one double bond and two single bonds in a trigonal planar arrangement).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>c) Hybridization of each oxygen (using one resonance structure):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Double bonded oxygen: <strong>sp\u00b2<\/strong> hybridized (one sigma bond, one pi bond, and two lone pairs).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Single bonded oxygen (with the negative charge): <strong>sp\u00b3<\/strong> hybridized (one sigma bond and three lone pairs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>d) Number of sigma and pi bonds:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using one resonance structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sigma (\u03c3) bonds: 7 total\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>3 C\u2013H<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 C\u2013C<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 C=O (only one sigma in a double bond)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 C\u2013O (single bond)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 C\u2013O (in COO\u207b)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pi (\u03c0) bonds: 1 (from one C=O double bond)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>e) Atom carrying the formal negative charge:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>single bonded oxygen<\/strong> (in each resonance structure) carries the <strong>formal negative charge<\/strong>. The charge is delocalized through resonance between both oxygens, meaning neither oxygen permanently holds the charge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explanation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The acetate ion is a polyatomic anion formed from acetic acid by removing one proton from the hydroxyl group. Its molecular formula is C\u2082H\u2083O\u2082\u207b. In its structure, both oxygen atoms are bonded to the same carbon, forming the carboxylate group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To construct the Lewis structure, begin by placing the carbon-carbon bond. The methyl carbon (CH\u2083) is single bonded to the central carbon, which is part of the carboxyl group. This central carbon forms one double bond with one oxygen and one single bond with another oxygen. The single bonded oxygen holds a negative formal charge. Two resonance forms exist because the position of the double bond can shift between the two oxygen atoms. These resonance forms stabilize the acetate ion by delocalizing the negative charge over two electronegative oxygen atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hybridization of atoms helps explain molecular geometry and electron distribution. The methyl carbon is sp\u00b3 hybridized because it forms four single bonds. The carboxyl carbon is sp\u00b2 hybridized due to three regions of electron density around it (one double bond and two single bonds). In one resonance form, the double bonded oxygen is sp\u00b2 hybridized (involved in a sigma and a pi bond), while the single bonded oxygen is sp\u00b3 hybridized, having three lone pairs and one sigma bond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The molecule has seven sigma bonds and one pi bond in any given resonance form. The pi bond accounts for the carbon-oxygen double bond. The single bonded oxygen carries the formal negative charge, although resonance allows for that charge to be spread across both oxygens. This delocalization contributes to the overall stability of the acetate ion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner8-693.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-236626\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The acetate ion, C2H3O2-, has both oxygens bonded to the same carbon. Draw the Lewis structure and all resonance forms. H3C-C=O | O- Label the hybridization around each carbon: Pick one resonance structure and label the hybridization of each oxygen. How many pi bonds are present? Which atom carries the formal negative charge? The Correct [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}