Hydrides

In chemistry, a hydride is the anion of hydrogen, H⁻, or, more commonly, it is a compound in which one or more hydrogen centres have nucleophilic, reducing, or basic properties. In compounds that are regarded as hydrides, the hydrogen atom is bonded to a more electropositive element or group. Compounds containing hydrogen bonded to metals or metalloid may also be referred to as hydrides. Almost all of the elements form binary compounds with hydrogen, the exceptions being He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Pm, Os, Ir, Rn, Fr, and Ra.

Bonds between hydrogen and other elements range from highly to somewhat covalent. Some hydrides, e.g. boron hydrides, do not conform to classical electron-counting rules, and the bonding is described in terms of multi-centered bonds, whereas the interstitial hydrides often involve metallic bonding. Hydrides can be discrete molecules, oligomers or polymers, ionic solids, chemisorbed monolayers, bulk metals (interstitial), and other materials. While hydrides traditionally react as Lewis bases or reducing agents, some metal hydrides behave as hydrogen-atom donors and act as acids.

Free hydride anions exist only under extreme conditions and are not invoked for homogeneous solution. Instead, many compounds have hydrogen centres with hydridic character.

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