Hydrogen bond
form of association between an electronegative atom and a hydrogen atom attached to a second, relatively electronegative atom
In chemistry, a hydrogen bond (H-bond) is a specific type of molecular interaction that exhibits partial covalent character and cannot be described as a purely electrostatic force. It occurs when a hydrogen (H) atom, covalently bonded to a more electronegative donor atom or group (Dn), interacts with another electronegative atom bearing a lone pair of electrons—the hydrogen bond acceptor (Ac). Unlike simple dipole–dipole interactions, hydrogen bonding arises from charge transfer (nB → σ*AH), orbital interactions, and quantum mechanical delocalization, making it a resonance-assisted interaction rather than a mere electrostatic attraction.
The general notation for hydrogen bonding is Dn−H···Ac, where the solid line represents a polar covalent bond, and the three dots indicate the hydrogen bond. Hydrogen bond donors have a protic hydrogen attached to an electronegative atom such as nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and fluorine (F). Hydrogen bond acceptors have a lone pair of electrons, such as the nitrogen atom of amines and amides and the oxygen atom of carboxylates and water.
The term "hydrogen bond" is generally used for well-defined, localized interactions with significant charge transfer and orbital overlap, such as those in DNA base pairing or ice. In contrast, "hydrogen-bonding interactions" is a broader term used when the interaction is weaker, more dynamic, or delocalized, such as in liquid water, supramolecular assemblies (e.g.: lipid membranes, protein-protein interactions), or weak C-H···O interactions. This distinction is particularly relevant in structural biology, materials science, and computational chemistry, where hydrogen bonding spans a continuum from weak van der Waals-like interactions to nearly covalent bonding.
Hydrogen bonding can occur between separate molecules (intermolecular) or within different parts of the same molecule (intramolecular).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hydrogen bond” as form of association between an electronegative atom and a hydrogen atom attached to a second, relatively electronegative atom. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q169324. The Library of Congress control number is sh85063424. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hydrogen bond” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.