Forces between molecules overlap

When two molecules come so close to each other that both electron clouds can overlap, electron exchange takes place. This gives rise to repulsive forces between molecules. 

In dimethyl ether, the oxygen atom is sp3 hybridized. In creating two single bonds, each bond is formed by the overlap of one of its sp3 hybrid orbitals with the sp3 hybrid orbital on the adjacent carbon atom. Each of the remaining two hybrid orbitals on the oxygen atom contain a lone pair of electrons. The resulting molecule is polar. The intermolecular forces found operating between molecules of dimethyl ether are therefore dipole-dipole interactions and London forces. 

To give the reader a feel for these effects we refer to two examples. Anthracene itself crystallizes in a structure in which the extent of overlap between molecules in plane-to-plane close packing is negligibly small. We would therefore expect there to be no driving force for the reaction, and the crystal to be light stable. In fact, it undergoes photodimerization to yield 85a, albeit with low quantum... 

Intermolecular forces are the forces of attraction and repulsion between molecules. These forces change as the distance between molecules changes. The attractive force increases as the distance between the molecules decreases until the molecules get so close together that their electronic fields overlap. Any further decrease of the distance between the molecules will cause a repulsive force between them. This repulsive force will increase as the molecules are forced closer together. 

For such molecules, all of the vibrations are active in both the infrared and Raman spectra. Usually, certain of the vibrations give very weak bands or lines, others overlap, and some are difficult to measure, as they occur at very low wavenumber values.40 Because the vibrations cannot always be observed, a model of the molecule is needed, in order to describe the normal modes. In this model, the nuclei are considered to be point masses, and the forces between them, springs that obey Hooke s law. Furthermore, the harmonic approximation is applied, in which any motion of the molecule is resolved in a sum of displacements parallel to the Cartesian coordinates, and these are called fundamental, normal modes of vibration. If the bond between two atoms having masses M, and M2 obeys Hooke s law, with a stiffness / of the spring, the frequency of vibration v is given by... 

There are several qualitative approaches to bonding in polyatomic molecules, but we shall discuss here the most widely used and currently popular approach. This approach involves setting up appropriate atomic orbitals for the atoms and considering that each bond arises from the attractive electrical forces of two or more nuclei for a pair of electrons in overlapping atomic orbitals, with each orbital on a different atom. The geometry of the bonds is assumed to be determined by the geometry of the orbitals and by the repulsive forces between the electrons. In the course of showing how this approach... 

Both Hamaker and Lifshitz theories of van der Waals interaction between particles are continuum theories in which the dispersion medium is considered to have uniform properties. At short distances (i.e. up to a few molecular diameters) the discrete molecular nature of the dispersion medium cannot be ignored. In the vicinity of a solid surface, the constraining effect of the solid and the attractive forces between the solid and the molecules of the dispersion medium will cause these molecules to pack, as depicted schematically in Figure 8.5. Moving away from the solid surface, the molecular density will show a damped oscillation about the bulk value. In the presence of a nearby second solid surface, this effect will be even more pronounced. The van der Waals interaction will, consequently, differ from that expected for a continuous dispersion medium. This effect will not be significant at liquid-liquid interfaces where the surface molecules can overlap, and its significance will be difficult to estimate for a rough solid surface. 

In the basic model, put forward by Asakura and Oosawa (5), the hard spherical particles immersed in a solution of macromolecules are considered to be surrounded by depletion layers from which the polymer molecules are excluded. When two particles are far apart with no overlap of the depletion zones, the thermal force acting over the entire particle surface is uniform. However, when the particles come closer, such that their depletion zones begin to overlap, there is a region in which the polymer concentration is zero and the force exerted over the surfaces facing this region is smaller compared to that exerted over the rest of the surface. This gives rise to an attractive force between the two particles which is proportional to the osmotic pressure of the polymer solution. 

Electrostatic forces provide a generalized attraction between molecules in chemical reactions. In the reaction between chloride anions and sodium cations described above, the way in which these two spherical species approached one another was unimportant because the charges attracted one another from any angle. In most organic reactions the orbitals of the nucleophile and electrophile are directional and so the molecular orbitals of the reacting molecules exert important control. If a new. bond is to be formed as the molecules collide, the orbitals of the two species must be correctly aligned in space. In our last example, only if the sp3 orbital of the lone pair on nitrogen points directly at the empty orbital of the BF3 can bond formation take place. Other collisions will not lead to reaction. In the first frame a successful collision takes place and a bond can be formed between the orbitals. In the second frame are three examples of unsuccessful collisions where no orbital overlap is possible. There are of course many more unproductive collisions but only one productive collision. Most collisions do not lead to reaction. 

---