Acetonitrile (CH3CN) is an important industrial cheical. Among other things, it Is used to make plastic moldings, which have multiple uses, from car parts to Lego bricks. Which statement below about acetonitrile is FALSE? a. Acetonitrile has 16 valence electrons in its Lewis structure. b. Acetonitrile has one triple bond. C. Acetonitrile has one pair of nonbonding electrons. d. All atoms satisfy the octet rule in acetonitrile. e. One carbon atom and the nitrogen atom have nonzero formal charges.

E. There is no formal charge on acetonitrile

Explanation:

All the options may be checked if we draw the structure of the compound.

H₃C - C ≡ N°°, (°°) represents a pair of non bonded electrons

From this structure we can clearly see that Acetonitrile has one triple bond, that it has one pair of non - bonding electron, furthermore all atoms satisfy the octet rule. To check for valence electrons, simply use the equation

Valence Shell electrons = Valence electrons of Carbon x Number of Carbon atoms + Valence electrons of Hydrogen x Multiplied by Number of Hydrogen + Valence electrons of Nitrogen x Number of Nitrogen

Valence Shell electrons = 4 x 2 + 1 x 3 + 5 x 1 = 16 e⁻s

The formal charge is calculated by No. of valence electron on atom - [non bonded electrons + no. of bonds]

Hence

the formal charge on carbon = 4 - (0 + 4) = 0

the formal charge on nitrogen = 5 - (2 + 3) = 0

Hence the formal charges are zero and the statement is false.