Ammonia - Structure and Basic Chemical Properties

Structure and Basic Chemical Properties

The ammonia molecule has a trigonal pyramidal shape with a bond angle of 107.8°, as predicted by the valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (VSEPR theory). The central nitrogen atom has five outer electrons with an additional electron from each hydrogen atom. This gives a total of eight electrons, or four electron pairs that are arranged tetrahedrally. Three of these electron pairs are used as bond pairs, which leaves one lone pair of electrons. The lone pair of electrons repel more strongly than bond pairs, therefore the bond angle is not 109.5°, as expected for a regular tetrahedral arrangement, but is measured at 107.8°. The nitrogen atom in the molecule has a lone electron pair, which makes ammonia a base, a proton acceptor. This shape gives the molecule a dipole moment and makes it polar. The molecule's polarity and, especially, its ability to form hydrogen bonds, makes ammonia highly miscible with water. Ammonia is moderately basic, a 1.0 M aqueous solution has a pH of 11.6 and if a strong acid is added to such a solution until the solution is neutral (pH = 7), 99.4% of the ammonia molecules are protonated. Temperature and salinity also affect the proportion of NH₄+. The latter has the shape of a regular tetrahedron and is isoelectronic with methane. It is known to have the highest specific heat capacity of any substance.