Boron hydrides three-center bond concepts

Many people make the mistake of equating the study of three-center bonds to the study of the boron hydrides. Certainly, the Colonel was very successful in applying 3-center bond concepts to boron hydrides. However, we should see the larger applicability of the general concept to noble gas compounds, localized orbitals for species such as COa, metals, metal- cluster compounds, etc. Someplace between the localized 2e-2c bonds beginning students (and some elderly chemists) love and cherish, and the fully-delocalized molecular orbitals we so often find useful, lies a localized multicenter bond. This approach to localized bonds looks like it will be very useful to chemists when it is more fiilly developed. They have some resemblance to the intuitive "best" valance structure selected from resonance hybrids. One should be able to do chemistry with these orbitals. Fractional bonds may be uncomfortable at first, but note that the octet rule applies to electrons, not orbitals. One of the most inqjortant contributions... 

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