Question

Hydrogen peroxide decomposes on its own by the following reaction

\[\ce{H - O - O - H -> 2H - O - H + O2}\]

From this, what will be your inference about the strength of O – O covalent bond?

Tell from the above example whether oxygen has catenation power or not.

Answer 1

In hydrogen peroxide, the O – O single bond is broken during the reaction. Since hydrogen peroxide decomposes relatively easily even on standing or in the presence of light or catalysts, it indicates that the O – O bond is weak.

From the given example, we can infer that oxygen has catenation power, but it is weak.