ionic bond

https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.IT07058
The bond between atoms with sharply different electronegativities. In strict terms, an ionic bond refers to the electrostatic attraction experienced between the electric charges of a cation and an anion, in contrast with a purely covalent bond. In practice, it is preferable to consider the amount of ionic character of a bond rather than referring to purely ionic or purely covalent bonds. The relationship was proposed (L. Pauling) for the estimation of ionic character of a bond between atoms A and B: Amount of ionic character=1−e−1/4 (χA−χB) where χA and χB are the Pauling electronegativities of atoms A and B. This type of bonding is realized mostly in solids.
Source:
PAC, 1999, 71, 1919. (Glossary of terms used in theoretical organic chemistry) on page 1947 [Terms] [Paper]
Citation: 'ionic bond' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.IT07058 RIS BibTex EndNote
Div. IIIPDFTextXMLJSON