Hybridization: Nitrogen Exception

What we learned:

• Nitrogen atoms can sometimes “break” the counting rule
  • “break” is in quotations because it doesn’t necessarily break the rule, but there is an additional set of circumstances we have to pay attention to
• The nitrogen exception is as follows: If the lone pair is on an atom bonded to another atom involved with a pi bond, the lone pair will not hybridize
  • We call this the nitrogen exception because this rule typically applies to nitrogen atoms
• If the nitrogen atom is not bonded to an atom involved with a pi bond, the nitrogen exception does not apply and we use the normal counting rule