ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the nature of the hydrogen bond. It discusses the stoichiometry of hydrogen bonding and the role of infrared spectroscopy in measuring the number of hydrogen bonded groups present in a system. Descriptions of the hydrogen bond become more complicated when quantitative descriptions of forces are attempted. Four contributory effects are recognized as being central to the formation of hydrogen bonds electrostatic interactions, delocalization effects, repulsive forces, and dispersion forces. Most chemists and even some physicists have at least a passing notion of the nature of hydrogen bonding and its effect on the structure and physical properties of various materials. The determination of the enthalpy of hydrogen bond formation then allows a calculation of the variation of these parameters with temperature. Hydrogen bonds can also form between "unlike" groups. In principle, hydrogen leaves two types of experimental studies that could be applied to the characterization of polymers: thermodynamic, and spectroscopic.
