Question

BH3 <-- Boron trihydride If you are to draw a Lewis structure, you would see that just a single bond is needed b/ween each B-H bond. Is Boron coordinate covalent bonding in this situation? Also, its electron configuration before bonding is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^1 After bonding with those 3 Hydrogens, is its valence configuration going to be: 1s^2 2s^0 2p^0 OR Does it hybridize and we get: [e-, ][e-, ][e-, ] <--- sp^2 [e-, ] <--- p What I am not understanding is how does Boron's valence configuration change before bonding versus after bonding?

Answer 1

I just need clarification on the following:
Before bonding, what is Boron's e- config
After bonding, what is Boron's e- config?

Answer 2

you get 3 sp2 orbitals with 1 electron in each