Order of hydrogen bond strength:
O−H⋅⋅⋅N > O−H⋅⋅⋅O > N−H⋅⋅⋅N > N−H⋅⋅⋅O. Why is that so?
According to me O−H⋅⋅⋅O should have the maximum strength while N−H⋅⋅⋅N should have the weakest hydrogen bonds based on the fact that oxygen is more electronegative than nitrogen. It would develop a higher δ− charge and the hydrogen attached to it will have a higher δ+ charge which would make the hydrogen bonding stronger.
I can't reason out the order given in my textbook. After observing it, all I can guess is that oxygen being highly electronegative leads to higher δ+ charge on hydrogen while nitrogen being less electronegative easily shares its electron cloud with hydrogen, making the hydrogen bond stronger.
I am not sure about this reason as according to this it is more stable for hydrogen to make a hydrogen bond with a less electronegative element and possibly even an electropositive element, (unless and until the hydrogen is attached to a highly electronegative element), which does not occur in normal circumstances.
It would be great if anybody could help me figure out the reason for the above trend.
Answer
As a short answer, Hydrogen bonds (for elementary chemistry) are formed with donation of lone pair of a lewis base into LUMO of H attached to a highly electronegative atom. A better donor makes a better bond and more electronegative atom makes a better bond. From my experience, the second factor overrides the first one in most cases.
N is a better donor than O and H in O−H is a better acceptor than H in N−H.
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