A hydrogen bond is defined as the attractive force between an electronegative atom and a hydrogen atom that is covalently bonded to another electronegative atom, typically nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine. The discussion questions whether hydrochloric acid (HCl) exhibits hydrogen bonding. While chlorine is electronegative, its larger atomic size prevents it from forming strong hydrogen bonds with hydrogen due to insufficient proximity to create a significant dipole. Instead, the interaction between hydrogen and chlorine in HCl is more covalent in nature, as the high charge density of hydrogen can deform the larger chlorine atom, leading to weaker dipole-dipole interactions rather than true hydrogen bonding.
