On the geometry of O–H...O hydrogen bonds

The asymmetry of hydrogen bonds arises from the repulsion between the O atoms forming the bonds. A bond-valence analysis of the repulsion leads to the conclusion that strong and weak hydrogen bonds are different in kind, the stronger ones (O-O less than 2.7 Å) involve strain and are linear while the weaker ones (O-O greater than 2.7 Å) have an extra degree of freedom and are generally bent. The strength of the hydrogen bond is determined by a number of factors such as the requirement that the bond valences around each atom add up to the atomic valence, a tendency for the O-O distance to be close to 2.7 Å, and by crystal-packing considerations which often lead to the formation of bent, and hence weaker, hydrogen bonds. The bond-valence analysis correctly predicts the observed correlations between H...O distance and O-H-O angle. The frequency with which various hydrogen-bond configurations are observed in crystals is used to propose a method for determining hydrogen-bond energies. This analysis of hydrogen bonding leads to an understanding of the lengthening of hydrogen bonds in high-pressure ices and to proposals for hydrated ion structures which can be used, for example, to predict the acid strengths of anions and to show that in neutral aqueous solutions the oxygen atoms of complex anions each hydrogen-bond to two or three water molecules.