• Question: what happens to the hydrogen atoms when you break a hydrogen bond because they are diatomic

    Asked by jean532kaon83 to rosmitaborthakur, qasimhussain, Maria, kirstenhawkins, karinamatei, Indigo, freyawise, Enrico, Alana M on 8 Jan 2026.
    • Photo: Enrico Petrucco

      Enrico Petrucco answered on 8 Jan 2026: last edited 8 Jan 2026 22:51

      The hydrogen bond can be broken either with or without simultaneous electron transfer reactions.

      This means that you can turn a diatomic hydrogen molecule into two protons and two electrons. This is what happens in a fuel cell anode and the electrons can be used in a vehicle to give electric power from hydrogen fuel. In this case the protons move through a very thin membrane and combine with oxygen and electrons on the other side of the membrane to make water.

      However, if you break the hydrogen bond without electron transfer then this creates a radical atom which is very highly reactive and is one of the few chemicals that can degrade perfluorinated materials such as PFAS. However, the high reactivity means the hydrogen radical will probably react with water before it can diffuse far and in that case it would make hydrogen peroxide (an OH radical).

Comments