Trigonal bipyramidal molecules

What is here?

You can see ball-and-stick models of phosphorus pentafluoride, sulfur tetrafluoride and chlorine trifluoride:

all three molecules have five pairs of outer electrons around their central atom, so
they all have a trigonal bipyramidal arrangement of electron pairs around the central atom.

Use your mouse (or finger on touch devices) to move or scale molecules. Double tap to stop and start each animation.

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ball and stick model
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phosphorus pentafluoride, PF₅

sulfur tetrafluoride, SF₄

chlorine trifluoride, ClF₃

Shapes and bond angles

There are five pairs of outer electrons around the central atom in each of these molecules. These pairs of electrons repel each other. In terms of the relative strength of repulsion:

strongest	lone pair – lone pair
⇣	lone pair – bond pair
weakest	bond pair – bond pair

The F—P—F bond angles in PF₅ are:

90° between an atom in the axial position and an atom in the equatorial position
120° between two atoms in the equatorial position.

These angles are obtained when all five pairs of outer electrons repel each other equally. The bond angles in SF₄ and in ClF₃ are less than these values because of the stronger repulsion by their lone pairs of electrons.

Molecule	Bonding pairs	Lone pairs	Bond angle	Shape
PF₅	5	0	90° / 120°	trigonal bipyramidal
SF₄	4	1	86.5° / 102°	see-saw
ClF₃	3	2	87.5°	T-shape
I₃^–	2	3	180°	linear

Different sources may quote different bond angles for ammonia and water. The ones shown here are acceptable for AS and A Level examinations.

Where two bond angles are given, the first angle is between axial and equatorial atoms, and the second angle is between equatorial atoms.

The triiodide ion, I₃^–

triiodide ion, I₃^–

This is not a molecule but it is an interesting addition to this page. The central iodine atom has five pairs of outer electrons but it has just two bonding pairs of electrons. Its three lone pairs of electrons occupy the equatorial position.

These lone pairs repel each other and the two bonding pairs so that the other two iodine atoms occupy the axial positions. This produces a linear structure, even though there is a trigonal bipyramidal arrangement of electron pairs.

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Trigonal bipyramidal molecules

What is here?

phosphorus pentafluoride, PF5

sulfur tetrafluoride, SF4

chlorine trifluoride, ClF3

Shapes and bond angles

The triiodide ion, I3–

triiodide ion, I3–

Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited.Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only.

phosphorus pentafluoride, PF₅

sulfur tetrafluoride, SF₄

chlorine trifluoride, ClF₃

The triiodide ion, I₃^–

triiodide ion, I₃^–

Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited.
Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only.