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Hydrogen Bonding -

• Hydrogen bonding obviously involves molecules containing a hydrogen atom.
  
  
• The bonds are formed between slightly positively (+ve) charged hydrogen atoms and slightly negatively (-ve) charged nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine atoms (see diagram)
  
  
• Hydrogen bonding is not quite an accurate term as the attractions between the atoms involved are electrostatic in nature.
  
  
• But because the strength of these electrostatic attraction are so strong that they resemble covalent and ionic bonds.
  
  
• The small negative charge on nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine atoms are due to their electro-negativity.
  
  They tend to attract negatively charged electrons to themselves from those belonging to neighboring atoms within the molecule they are part of.
  
  
• The small positive charge on the hydrogen atom occurs when a hydrogen atom of a molecule is attached to one of these electronegative atoms.
  
  Then the hydrogen atom serves as the source of the electrons, leaving the hydrogen atom slightly depleted of electrons and slightly positively charged.
  
  
• When a electro-negative atom, with a small negative charge, comes into proximity of a hydrogen atom with a small positive charge, they will link up forming an attachment, called a hydrogen bond.