Dative Bonding

Dative bonding (also called coordinate covalent bonding) is a type of chemical bond in which both electrons that form the bond come from the same atom.

• The bond is a type of covalent bond and behaves similarly, but the electron-sharing is asymmetrical.
• The molecule still forms a stable structure even though the electron pair comes from one atom.

Dative bonds are found in many molecules, such as coordination complexes in transition metal chemistry, where a metal atom can form several dative bonds with ligands that donate electron pairs.

example of dative (coordinate covalent) bonding:

Ammonia and Boron Trifluoride (NH₃ + BF₃ → NH₃BF₃)

• In this case, ammonia (NH₃), which has a lone pair of electrons on nitrogen, donates both of its electrons to the boron atom in boron trifluoride (BF₃), which has an empty p-orbital.
• This results in the formation of a dative bond between nitrogen and boron.