[iScience]

what does a hydrogen bonded to an atom do to that atom's electronegativity? Oxygen alone has an EN of 3.5. but if, say.. a hydrogen comes and gets bonded to the oxygen. the probability distribution will shift and the molecule will become polar. it would make sense that whatever else gets bonded to the oxygen would be a stronger bond than if it were to be bonded to an oxygen alone instead of an alcohol, since the hydrogen's electron cloud gets pulled into the oxygen more and that electron now spends more time in the oxygen electron cloud than the hydrogen's. So, does basically my question is, does the presence of an R group for an ether affect the other R group's interaction  with the oxygen? and expanding this question to all atoms with multiple bonds, does the presence of a bond of some central atom with another atom affect the central atom's interaction with other electron clouds ie the bond strength?

i don't feel that i've worded this so well.. please request clarification if needed

[Hunter2]

Yes it does. Known as I- or M-Effect. Depending of the type and the structure of R the bond can be stronger or weaker.