Bonding
DEET is a molecular compound. Molecular compounds are made up of two or more non metal atoms. In a covalent bond, atoms share electrons rather than transferring. A covalent bond can be defined as a type of chemical bond which involves the sharing of electrons between atoms in a molecule. DEET is also a molecular compound due to the electronegativity differences between the bonds. If the electronegativity difference is calculated between each bond, it is not high enough to be an ionic compound. Molecular bonds are created through the electrostatic attraction between electrons of one atom and the nucleus of another. Electrostatic energy and bonding are connected because opposite charges attract to each other and like charged repel each other. Carbon has a charge of 2+, Nitrogen has a charge of 3 -, Oxygen has a charge of 2- and hydrogen has a charge of 1+. Electrostatic energy applies to DEET because oxygen and nitrogen will be attracted to hydrogen and carbon because they have opposite charges. Oxygen and nitrogen will repel each other due to the similarities in charge and hydrogen and carbon will also repel each other because they both have a positive charge. Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electron from a neutral atom. As the charge of an atom increases, there is an increase of shielding in the nucleus and the number of protons also increases. This means more ionization energy is required in order to form a positive ion. In DEET, no electrons are being removed but instead they are being shared because they have covalent bonding. In DEET, ionization of individual atoms is not met so electrons are not removed just shared. In the chemical structure of DEET, there are single bonds, double bonds and covalent bonds. Single bonds occur when when there are two electrons being shared between two atoms. There is one bonding electron from each atom. In DEET, the single bonds are formed between carbon and hydrogen. The other single bonds are formed when nitrogen is bonded to carbon. A double bond occurs when there are four electrons being shared between two atoms and there are two bonding electrons from each atom. In DEET, the double bonds are formed when oxygen is bonded to carbon. Covalent bonds are seen commonly during the sharing of a pair of electrons by two of the same atoms. In DEET, covalent bonds are formed when the carbon is bonded to carbon. The reason there are multiple bonds in DEET is because the sharing of electrons is necessary in order to fill the octets of each atom.
