ChemTeam: Table of Three to Six Electron Domains

Go back to VSEPR Menu
Electron Domains	Arrangement of Electron Domains	General Molecular Formula¹	Molecular Shape²	Examples	Hybrid Orbitals³	Polar?⁴
2	Linear	AX₂	Linear	CO₂	sp	No
3	Trigonal Planar (3 electron domains)	AX₃	Trigonal planar	BF₃, AlCl₃	sp²	No
		AX₂E	Angular	SnCl₂		Yes
4	Tetrahedral (4 electron domains)	AX₄	Tetrahedral	CH₄, SiCl₄	sp³	No
		AX₃E	Trigonal pyramidal	NH₃, PCl₃		Yes
		AX₂E₂	Angular (Bent)	H₂O, SCl₂		Yes
5	Trigonal bipyramidal (5 electron domains)	AX₅	Trigonal bipyramidal	PCl₅, AsF₅	dsp³	No
		AX₄E	Disphenoidal (Tetter-totter)	SF₄		Yes
		AX₃E₂	T-shaped	ClF₃		Yes
		AX₂E₃	Linear	XeF₂		No
6	Octahedral (6 electron domains)	AX₆	Octahedral	SF₆	d²sp³	No
		AX₅E	Square pyramidal	BrF₅		Yes
		AX₄E₂	Square planar	XeF₄		No

¹ For the General Molecular Formula, "A" refers to central atom, "X" refers to atoms attached to central atom, and "E" refers to unbonded electron pairs. For example, AX₂E₂ is shown as the formula for water (H₂O), which has two bonded hydrogen atoms ("X") and two lone (unbonded) electron pairs ("E").

² For compounds containing 5 pairs of electrons (bonding and/or lone pairs), all lone pairs are placed in the trigonal planar electron region, never above or below the trigonal planar region. This arrangement maximizes the separation of lone electron pairs to their neighbors. See the Trigonal bipyramidal(five domains) webpage for diagrams.

³For Hybrid Orbitals, you can always know the VSEPR electron arrangement (see Arrangement of Electron Domains column). Molecular Geometry is based on the arrangement of the bonded atoms, according to the General Molecular Formula column.

⁴For molecules that contain the same attached atoms, a symmetrical molecule is not polar. An assymetrical molecule (non-symmetrical electron domains) is polar if the individual bonds are polar.