Is NH2 Polar or Nonpolar?

Answer: NH2 is a polar molecule due to the presence of lone pair electrons which result in a bent structure thereby causing an unequal distribution of charge within the molecule. This logic applies to either NH2+ or NH2- although the latter is more likely to occur.

Due to the necessity for nitrogen to either lose an electron (which is quite difficult due to nitrogen's high natural electronegativity of 3.04) or gain an electron (since three lone pair electrons cannot exist stably) this molecule is only found as an intermediate form in nature in certain reactions. The molecule is extremely unstable and typically lasts for less than one second.

To learn more about the intricately related molecule Ammonia (NH3), feel free to check out the following articles regarding the polarity and the Lewis Dot Structure for NH3.

NH2 Ball and Stick Diagram. Created with Avagadro.

How is NH2 utilized in the real world?

NH2- is typically one part of the alkali metal amides. NH2+ is typically the intermediate in a few specific kinds of organic chemistry reactions such as the Bamberger rearrangement and DNA-damaging processes. The most popular term to refer to NH2 functional groups is amine. Amine groups play an important role in the chain linking different amino acids together into their primary structure during translation of mRNA into protein.