Question

Just for clarification, hydrogen bonding is not a covalent bond, right? I know that hydrogen bonding is a special case of dipole-dipole interaction, but I just want to make sure.

Answer 1

I agree the H bonding is not a covalent bond. The H bond forms because of the ionic nature of the polarity of the O, N, or F of one molecule with the H of another molecule BUT, when you consider the strength of a H bond (about 1/5 that of a true ionic bond) it isn't right to call it an ionic bond. I think most get around this by calling the H bond a dipole-dipole bond and let it go at that. I think of it as a weak ionic bond which is weaker than a true covalent bond and weaker than a true ionic bond but considerably stronger than dispersion forces.