Question

Explain the important aspects of resonance with reference to the CO₃^2- ion.

Answer 1

Carbonate ion (CO₃^2-) is best described as a resonance hybrid of the three canonical forms

(i) In these structures, the position of the nuclei are the same.

(ii) The number of bonding and non-bonding pairs of electron are the same in all these structures.

(iii) The three structures have nearly the same energy.