Why does the H in HCl move to a molecule of NH3? It doesn’t seem to make sense as both of the molecules are satisfied, right?

1 Answer
Feb 19, 2018

Does not the nitrogen become quaternized in the reaction....?

Explanation:

#NH_3(g) + HCl(g) rarr underbrace(NH_4Cl(s))_(H_3N*HCl)#...

Often when you open a bottle of conc. acid next to an open bottle of conc. ammonia, you can see the white salt of ammonium chloride form in mid-air as the vapours from each bottle mix....

In ammonium chloride the nitrogen is quaternized, i.e. the nitrogen has formed FOUR formal #N-H# bonds, the which are indistinguishable. The nitrogen centre has 6 electrons rather than the 7 required for neutrality, and thus it is represented as #H_4stackrel(+)N#.

And why should this occur? Well, the nitrogen is certainly nucleophilic, and the hydrogen in #H-Cl# is certainly electrophilic, and so they make music together.