Simple Procedure for writing Lewis Structures for methanimine CH2NH- #25

A simple procedure for writing Lewis structures is given in a previous article entitled “Lewis Structures and the Octet Rule”.  
Several worked examples relevant to this procedure were given in previous posts please see the Sitemap - Table of Contents (Lewis Electron Dot Structures).

Let us consider the case of  methanimine, CH₂NH . Methanimine can form the simplest aminoacid, glycine, when it reacts with either hydrogen cyanide and then with water, or formic acid. It has been detected even in other galaxies like Arp220 in 2008.

 

Step 1: Connect the atoms with single bonds. The central atom is the carbon atom.

Step 2: Calculate the # of electrons in π bonds (multiple bonds) using  formula (1): 

Where n in this case is 5 since CH₂NH consists of five atoms.

Where V = (1 + 1 + 4 + 5 + 1 ) = 12  

Therefore, P = 6n + 2 – V = 6 *2 + 2 – 12 = 2   Therefore,  there is one double bond and the structure in Step 1 is has one double bond.

 

Step 3 & 4: The Lewis structure for CH₂NH is as follows:

Figure 1: Lewis structure for methanimine.