Does ammonia have dipole-dipole interaction?

Question

Paisley Boney · Accepted Answer

Ammonia has a special case of #"dipole-dipole interaction"#......

.........just as water has a special case of #"dipole-dipole interaction"#......which is called #"hydrogen bonding"#. When hydrogen is covalently bound to a strongly electronegative element, i.e. #O#, or #F#, or #N#, the electronegative element polarizes electron density towards itself. The result? The heteroatom becomes partially negative, and the hydrogen atom becomes partially positive. For each molecule, we could represent this scenario by the diagrams: #""^(delta-)F-H^(delta+)#; #""^(delta+)H-^(delta-)O-H^(delta+)#, and #""^(delta-)N(H^(delta+))_3#. This operates as a potent force of intermolecular attraction when the dipoles align. All of these are quite small molecules, and yet ammonia has a normal boiling point of #-33.3# #""^@C#, hydrogen fluoride of #19.5# #""^@C#, and water, which has the most extensive intermolecular hydrogen bonding network has an even higher boiling point of....? Comparing the reduced normal points of phosphine, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen chloride—all of which you will have to hunt for—you will see that the elevated boiling points of these three small molecules are due to the very strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding, which is, of course, a special case of dipole-dipole interaction.

Emilia Alvarez · Answer

undefined Yes, ammonia exhibits dipole-dipole interactions due to the difference in electronegativity between nitrogen and hydrogen atoms, creating a polar molecule.