why doesn't nitrogen form pentahalides like phosphorus
Score more in Chemistry. Start Now with Video Lessons, Sample Papers, Revision Notes & more for Class-XII-Science-CBSE. Nitrogen do not form Pentahalides because of the non-availability of d-orbitals..where as Phosphorus have vacant d-orbitals to form Pentahalides.Posted by Shyam Prasad (student) on 2/10/09.n the case of Bismuth, due to inert pair effect Bi 3+ will be much more stable, so it will not form a pentahalide (removal of the s-electrons is necessary for forming the 5+ cation, and due to poor shielding by d and f-orbitals the s-electrons will be very strongly held by the nucleus.