Exercise 1 Question 2
Why is BiH3 the strongest reducing agent amongst all the hydrides of Group 15 elements?
The reducing character of the hydrides of Group 15 elements increases from NH3 to BiH3(Bismuthine) because the reducing character depends upon the stability of the hydride.The greater the unstability of anhydride,the greater is the its reducing character.Since,the BiH3 is the least stable (because the size of central atom is greatest & therefore its tendency to form stable covalent bond with small hydrogen atom decreases,as a result the bond strength decreases) in this series,hence the reducing character increases.
