(Chemistry A-level) What is a dative covalent bond?

A dative covalent bond, or coordinate bond, is a bond where there is 1 pair of shared electrons between two atoms. The difference relative to a covalent bond is that in a dative covalent bond these electrons both come from one atom.An example of this is the ammonium ion, NH4+. One of the single bonds between the nitrogen and hydrogen will be a dative covalent bond.Dative covalent bonds have the exact same orbital shapes and repulsion as normal covalent bonds. Ammonium, like methane, would therefore have a tetrahedral shape with bond angles of ~109.5°.Dative covalent bonds are represented on drawings as an arrow, with it pointing towards the atom/ion that isn't donating any electrons to the dative covalent bond.

OB
Answered by Oliver B. Chemistry tutor

87789 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

Calculate Gibbs free energy when S = 131 J mol-1 and H = 155 kJ mol-1 at 25 C, stating whether or not the reaction is feasable.


Describe how you could form ethyl ethanoate using only ethanol as the starting material. Include all relevant reagents and conditions.


State and explain the tests necessary to positively identify an unknown sample as copper carbonate


When composing a mechanism in organic chemistry, how do I use curly arrows?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning