Properties of hydrogen bonds formed by 1:1 interaction of H 2O with oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and other electron donors have been evaluated by extended Hückel and CNDO methods and the results are discussed in relation to the experimental data. A detailed analysis of the variation of the dissociation energies and charge densities with bond distances is presented for the amine-water system. 1:2 complexes of water with donors are found to contain weaker hydrogen bonds than 1:1 complexes. Results of molecular orbital calculations on the hydrogen bonding of H 2S and CH 3SH with some donors are presented. The theoretical value of hydrogen bond dissociation energy varies linearly with the overlap population, and stretching force constant of the hydrogen bond as well as with the experimental O—H frequency shift.