Is C6H12O6 formed by covalent bonding?

Question

Is C₆H₁₂O₆ formed by covalent bonding?

a) How are you able to tell this? Explain in terms of types of elements.

b) How are you able to tell this? Explain in terms of electronegativity differences.

Answer 1

Yes, this compound is known as glucose (a sugar).

a). This compound is made of C-H bonds, C-O bonds and O-H bonds. All of these form covalent bonds because they share electrons and the difference in electronegativity values aren't great enough to form ionic bonds.

b). See (a) above. The difference is EN of C, H and O aren't great enough to have one atom give up its electrons, so a true ionic bond does not form. This makes all the bonds in C6H12O6 covalent bonds.