Resonance Hybrid

[Vy Le 1G]

Hello. After today’s class, I need a bit more clarification on what a resonance hybrid structure is. I was able to understand resonance itself as having multiple locations where e- could be located but I’m confused with the concept of resonance hybrid. Can someone please explain the difference or how they connect? Thank you!

[Srikar_Chintala_1E]

Basically, when you have a resonance structure, the actual structure isn't exactly just 1 of them or neither does it alternate between the different resonance structures. Instead, the actual structure is considered a resonance hybrid because it is the AVERAGE of all of the possible resonance structures. Hence, each bond actually becomes equal, but the electrons are still delocalized.

[cecilia1F]

It also helps me to think about it as if the actual molecule is just a blend of all the possible resonance drawings that we made. They are not flipping between each version, but instead it is existing as each one at the same time.

[Christina Gigoux 1D]

The normal Lewis dot structures are good for visualizing, but the resonance hybrid shows a depiction more closely related to how the e- distibution of the actual molecule is. The resonance structure simply works off the idea that the e- in these molecules are equally shared/distributed. The resonance hybrid is a visual way of showing resonance within a molecule.

[Sristi Palimar 2E]

Resonance occurs because some lewis structures have multiple bonds in different locations. The drawing of these various lewis structures is helpful in understanding how electrons are delocalized. However, the true structure of the atom is a blend/hybrid/average of the possible lewis structures. For example, NO3- has three possible lewis structure, with a N-O double bond oriented differently in each one. However, the true structure of NO3- is an average of those three lewis structures, with each N-O bond having partial double bond character.

[Cassidy Chiong 2J]

Resonance hybrids are just a blend of all the resonance structures possible for a molecule. In lecture, professor mentioned that individual resonance structures don't actually exist; rather, the true form of the molecule is one in which the electrons are shared equally among the differing bonds of the resonance structure.

Hope that helps!