How is carbon monoxide represented?

1 Answer
Nov 4, 2016

So what is the question?

Explanation:

Generally we represent the carbon monoxide as sp-hybridized. Such a scheme places formal charges on the oxygen and carbon atoms:

:CO:+

There are 5 valence electrons around C, hence it has a formal negative charge, but only 5 around O, hence it has a formal positive charge. Such a designation can help rationalize why carbon monoxide typically binds to a metal centre via the carbon, e.g. [Ni(CO)4].