Rules for Drawing Resonating Structures

1. All the canonical forms must be bonafide Lewis structures.

2. We cannot change the relative position of atoms but can change the relative position of electron pairs.

3. All atoms taking part in resonance, i.e. covered by delocalized electrons, must lie in a plane or nearly so.

4. All canonical forms must have the same number of paired electrons.

Tushar Singh , 12 Years ago

Grade 12