Which of the following compounds cannot form hydrogen bonds with water?

• A. CH3OH
• B. CH4
• C. HF
• D. NH3

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand what hydrogen bonding is: it occurs when a hydrogen atom is covalently bonded to a highly electronegative atom (such as N, O, or F) and can interact with lone pairs on electronegative atoms in other molecules.
2. Examine each compound to see if it has hydrogen atoms bonded to N, O, or F, which are necessary for hydrogen bonding with water.
3. For CH3OH (methanol), note that it has an -OH group, so it can form hydrogen bonds with water through the oxygen and hydrogen in the hydroxyl group.
4. For HF (hydrogen fluoride), it has hydrogen bonded to fluorine, a highly electronegative atom, so it can form hydrogen bonds with water.
5. For NH3 (ammonia), hydrogen is bonded to nitrogen, which is electronegative, so it can form hydrogen bonds with water.
6. For CH4 (methane), hydrogen is bonded to carbon, which is not electronegative enough to participate in hydrogen bonding, so CH4 cannot form hydrogen bonds with water.