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Q.Name the three types of covalent Hydrides.

Tamil Nadu DgeTamil Nadu HSC First Year (DGE) Board 2025Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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Covalent hydrides are classified into electron-deficient, electron-precise, and electron-rich hydrides, based on whether the central atom has fewer than, exactly, or more than an octet of electrons around it (counting the H atoms' shared electrons and any lone pairs).

Covalent hydrides are formed by elements of similar electronegativity to hydrogen (mainly p-block elements), where the H atom is joined by a covalent (shared electron pair) bond rather than an ionic or metallic one. They fall into three categories:

  1. Electron-deficient hydrides: the central atom has fewer than 8 electrons around it even after bonding, i.e. it does not achieve a full octet. These compounds tend to act as Lewis acids. Example: B2H6 (diborane) — boron in BH3 has only 6 electrons around it, which is why boron hydrides dimerize using unusual 3-centre-2-electron bonds. …

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