Drawing Lewis Structures Using Formal Charge

The formal charges for common bonding situations are worth memorizing (See Table 1). You
shouldn’t need to use the equation or even to think very long to recognize that an oxygen atom
with 2 bonds (and two unshared pairs) has zero formal charge, and that an oxygen atom with
only 1 bond has a –1 formal charge.
Table 1
FORMAL CHARGE FOR COMMON
BONDING SITUATIONS
# of bonds* C N O F
4 0 +1
3 –1 0 +1
2 –1 0
1 –1 0
*For the purpose of this table, it is assumed that each atom
has an octet of electrons. Thus, 4 bonds implies no unshared
pairs, 3 bonds implies 1 unshared pair, etc.

When you are proficient at determining the formal charges of atoms, you can use this skill to
quickly and easily draw Lewis structures from chemical formulas. At first glance, the steps
below may seem intimidating, but most students, with some practice, have no trouble mastering
them.
STEPS FOR DRAWING LEWIS STRUCTURES
1. Given a chemical formula for a molecule or polyatomic ion, determine which atom(s) is (are)
at the center and which are on the outside.
a. In general, less electronegative atoms (since we haven’t gotten to this concept yet
simply choose the atom with fewer valence electrons and/or the larger atoms) are at the
center of a molecule or polyatomic ion. Hydrogen atoms, if present, are on the outside
with a single bond. Hydrogen atoms are never central atoms.
b. The only element that commonly forms chains or rings of atoms of the same element
bonded to each other is carbon. Sometimes a carbon chain will have an O or N atom in
the chain. Do not form chains of other elements.

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 c. If H, O, and another element are in a formula, particularly if the H is listed before the
other elements, the substance is typically an acid and the H is bonded to an oxygen atom.
d. In normal bonding situations (that is, zero formal charge as noted in Table 1 above),
carbon forms four bonds, nitrogen forms three bonds, oxygen forms two bonds, and
fluorine (or other terminal halogen atoms) form one bond.
e. For diatomics there obviously is not a “central” atom. However, for the purpose of
applying the following steps, you can identify the less electronegative atom (fewer
valence electrons or larger atom) as the “central” atom or, in the case of homonuclear
diatomics, identify either one of the atoms as the “central” atom for the purpose of
applying the following steps.
Connect the atoms with single bonds. Do not use multiple bonds unless they are necessary at a
later stage.
2. Give octets to the outside (non-hydrogen) atoms by adding unshared pairs of electrons.
(Eventually, you may do this step in your head to avoid having to redraw the structure at a later
step but be sure to draw in all of the unshared pairs when you are learning this method.)

3. Assign the formal charges of the outside atoms.

4. The sum of the formal charges for all of the atoms in the molecule or ion must add up to the
total charge of the molecule or ion.
Using this fact, deduce the formal charge necessary on the central atom.
F.C. on central atom = net charge of molecule or ion – Σformal charge on outside atoms

5. If needed based on the formal charge just deduced for the central atom, add unshared pairs of
electrons to the central atom until it has the proper formal charge. The number of unshared
electrons is the only unknown in the formal charge equation.
group # – formal charge = unshared electrons + bonds

Examples: 1) If you are trying to make the formal charge of a central S atom equal to
zero, then the number of unshared electrons + bonds must equal six (the group number of
S). If there are already four bonds to the central sulfur, then it still needs an unshared pair
to get up to six assigned electrons.

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 2) If you are trying to make the formal charge of a central P atom equal to +1, then the
number of unshared electrons + bonds must equal four. If there are already four bonds to
the central phosphorus, then no electrons need to be added to get up to four assigned
electrons.
Note: After properly completing step 5, (and maybe after step 4 if you did not have to add any
unshared electrons in step 5) the number of valence electrons in your structure is correct and
should not be changed for any reason. By determining the formal charges of all the atoms and
making sure that the formal charges add up to the overall charge of the molecule or ion you have
indirectly accounted for all of the electrons in the structure. In the following steps you may
rearrange electrons if necessary, but do not add or take away any electrons.

6. Now that the overall structure has the proper number of electrons, if the central atom still has
less than eight valence electrons (an octet), form multiple bonds between outside atoms and the
central atom by changing outside atom unshared pairs to bonding pairs. Continue this process
until the central atom has an octet.

7. With all electrons now in place, check and rewrite the formal charges if necessary.

8. (Optional: See discussion below) If possible, minimize the number of atoms with nonzero
formal charges by forming multiple bonds between outside atoms and the central atom. Do this
by changing unshared pairs to bonding pairs as in step 6 above. Do not add any electrons in this
step. Do not attempt this step with central C or N atoms as this process will cause the central
atom to exceed the octet rule and this is not allowed for these elements.

Notes on when the octet rule can and cannot be broken:

1. The above protocol works for nonmetal atoms in groups 14-18 (IVA-VIIIA). The octet rule
may be broken for metal/metalloid atoms from groups 1-3 (IA-IIIA), in which case, fewer than
eight electrons in the valence shell is acceptable and the above steps still apply with the
exception of step 6 (give an octet to the central atom).
2. For row 2 nonmetals (C, N, O, or F), the octet rule must never be violated.
3. For central atoms from periods 3 and beyond, more than eight valence electrons are permitted.

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4. Occasionally species have an odd numbers of electrons. These are called “radicals” and will
never be able to satisfy the octet rule. Radicals can be handled quite easily with the above steps.
If the substance for which you are drawing a Lewis structure contains a radical, you will find
that, in step 5, it is necessary to place an odd number of electrons on the central atom in order to
obtain the required formal charge on that atom. Lewis structures containing only p-block central
atoms should not be drawn with more than one unpaired electron, that is, with more than 1
radical. For example, if you find you must add three electrons to a central p-block atom, place
an unshared pair (2 e-s) and a single electron around the atomic symbol, not three unpaired
electrons. Finally, in step 6, try to get the central atom up to 7 valence electrons instead of 8.

Practice drawing Lewis structures of the following list of molecules and ions.
NH3 HCN SO32- HNO3 HCO3- SF4

SF6 POCl3 PCl5 BCl3 CN- SF2

CO2 CH2O PCl3 BrO2-

Fall 2008 Chem 150 students: Go through the steps for drawing Lewis structures with the
molecules or ions in the list just above. The remainder of this document is probably best read
after you have had more experience drawing Lewis structures. The last page contains of
summary of the 8 steps of this method.

Special shortcut method for oxoanions

For Lewis structures of oxoanions with minimized formal charges, the total negative charge is
almost always distributed among singly bonded oxygen atoms, each of which has a –1 formal
charge.

For example, an oxoanion with an overall –1 charge will have one singly bonded oxygen atom
with a –1 formal charge, an oxoanion with a –2 charge will have two singly bonded oxygen
atoms, etc.
The only exception to this empirical finding is the nitrate ion, NO3–, which must have two singly
bonded oxygen atoms so as not to exceed an octet of valence electrons on the nitrogen atom.

When drawing Lewis structures for oxoanions, steps 1-3 can be combined by immediately
placing around the central atom the number of singly bonded oxygen atoms equal to the overall
charge of the ion and drawing any additional oxygen atoms as double bonded atoms.

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For example, when drawing the Lewis structure of SO42-, one can immediately draw two singly
bonded oxygen atoms and two doubly bonded oxygen atoms attached to sulfur. Often, the Lewis
structure is finished after the oxygen atoms are placed in this shortcut manner but the formal
charges should be checked for accuracy and unshared electrons should be added to the central
atom (steps 4-5) if necessary.
This shortcut method can also be used successfully for hydroxoanions (HSO4–, HCO3–, etc.)
and oxoacids (H2CO3, H3PO4, HClO3, etc.).

Recall that hydrogen atoms that are listed before the central atom in the chemical formula
are attached to oxygen atoms and not to the central atom.

Again, the number of singly bonded oxygen atoms will be equal to the overall charge of the
polyatomic ion.

The number of OH groups will be equal to the number of H atoms in the formula and any
remaining oxygen atoms will be double bonded to the central atom.
For example, when drawing the Lewis structure of H2PO4–, one can immediately
attach one singly bonded oxygen atom to the central P atom because there is one
negative charge in the formula.

Then two OH groups can be attached to the P atom because of the two H atoms in
the formula. This leaves one doubly bonded oxygen atom. A check of the formal
charges (step 4) reveals that the Lewis structure is correct after placing the
hydrogen and oxygen atoms using this shortcut method.

Two common oxoacids will not work using this method.

H3PO3 and its related anions have a hydrogen atom bonded directly to the
phosphorus atom. This is not really a deficiency of the present method since it
relates to the preliminary placement of atoms and would require prior knowledge
regardless of which method was used for drawing the Lewis structure.

The other oxoacid that doesn’t work with this shortcut is HNO3, which has a
singly bonded oxygen atom even though it is neutral. This is a result of the need
to not exceed an octet of valence electrons on the nitrogen atom.

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Summary of steps for drawing Lewis structures from formulas.

Be sure to read the entire document posted on the web site! This is just a summary for your
convenience.

1. Place a skeleton structure together with single bonds.

2. Give octets to the outside atoms.

3. Determine the formal charges of the outside atoms.

4. Determine the formal charge needed on the central atom to get the correct overall charge.

5. Add unshared pair(s) of e– s to the central atom if needed to give it the f.c. deduced in step 4.

6. If the central atom still does not have an octet form multiple bonds by moving electrons from
outside atoms.

7. Rewrite the structure and/or formal charges if necessary.

8. (optional) Minimize formal charges if possible by forming multiple bonds.

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