Q.

Respective order of strength of back-bonding and Lewis acidic strength in boron trihalides is :

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a

BF3>BCl3>BBr3 and BF3<BCl3<BBr3

b

BF3<BCl3<BBr3 and BF3<BCl3<BBr3

c

BF3>BCl3>BBr3 and BF3>BCl3>BBr3

d

BF3<BCl3<BBr3 and BF3>BCl3>BBr3

answer is C.

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Detailed Solution

Respective order of strength of back-bonding and Lewis acidic strength in boron trihalides is,

BF3>BCl3>BBr3 and BF3<BCl3<BBr3

Greater electronegativity of fluorine is mainly responsible for the partial positive charge on the B atom in BF3,, the fluorine atoms' capacity to donate their own lone pair to the vacant boron orbitals, generating ρ(π)p(π)b back bonding, reduces the inclination to receive a lone pair. 

Due to the effective overlap of the 2p (F) and 2p (B) orbitals, F forms the strongest back bond. As a result, the boron's electron shortage is made up for and the Lewis acidity is reduced.

However, the amount of back-bonding reduces as orbital size grows. This is a result of the inefficient overlap between the 2p orbital of B and the 3p and 4p orbitals of Cl and Br, respectively.

Hence, option C is correct. 

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