Four-electron

Fig. XVIII-16. A four-electron two-orbital interaction that a) has no net bonding in the free molecule but can be bonding to a metal surface if (b) the Fermi level is below the antibonding level. In the lower part of the figure, a zero-electron two-orbital situation (c) has no bonding but there can be bonding to a metal surface as in (d) if the Fermi level is above the bonding level. (From Ref. 160.)...

Table 3.1.1 Pair correlation energies for the four electrons in Be.

More general situations have also been considered. For example. Mead [21] considers cases involving degeneracy between two Kramers doublets involving four electronic components a), a ), P), and P ). Equations (4) and (5), coupled with antisymmetry under lead to the following identities between the various matrix elements... 

Figure 1. Jacobi vectors for a three-nuclei, four-electron system. The nuclei are Pi, P2, P3, and the electrons are ei, 02, 63, 64,...

As an example, in a four-electronic-state problem (n = 4) consider the electronic states i = 2 and f = 4 along with the first-derivative coupling vector element Wj4 (Rl) that couples those two states. The ADT matrix ui.4(qx) can... 

The H4 system is the prototype for many four-elecbon reactions [34]. The basic tetrahedral sfructure of the conical intersection is preserved in all four-electron systems. It arises from the fact that the four electrons are contributed by four different atoms. Obviously, the tefrahedron is in general not a perfect one. This result was found computationally for many systems (see, e.g., [37]). Robb and co-workers [38] showed that the structure shown (a tetraradicaloid conical intersection) was found for many different photochemical transformations. Having the form of a tetrahedron, the conical intersection can exist in two enantiomeric structures. However, this feature is important only when chiral reactions are discussed. 

We term the in-phase combination an aromatic transition state (ATS) and the out-of-phase combination an antiaromatic transition state (AATS). An ATS is obtained when an odd number of electron pairs are re-paired in the reaction, and an AATS, when an even number is re-paired. In the context of reactions, a system in which an odd number of electrons (3, 5,...) are exchanged is treated in the same way—one of the electron pairs may contain a single electron. Thus, a three-electron system reacts as a four-electron one, a five-electron system as a six-electron one, and so on. 

Electi ocyclic reactions are examples of cases where ic-electiDn bonds transform to sigma ones [32,49,55]. A prototype is the cyclization of butadiene to cyclobutene (Fig. 8, lower panel). In this four electron system, phase inversion occurs if no new nodes are fomred along the reaction coordinate. Therefore, when the ring closure is disrotatory, the system is Hiickel type, and the reaction a phase-inverting one. If, however, the motion is conrotatory, a new node is formed along the reaction coordinate just as in the HCl + H system. The reaction is now Mdbius type, and phase preserving. This result, which is in line with the Woodward-Hoffmann rules and with Zimmerman s Mdbius-Huckel model [20], was obtained without consideration of nuclear symmetry. This conclusion was previously reached by Goddard [22,39]. 

Ammonia is a two-state system [16], in which the two base states lie at a minimum energy. They are connected by the inversion reaction with a small baiiier. The process proceeds upon the spin re-pairing of four electrons (Fig. 15) and has a very low barrier. The system is analogous to the tetrahedral carbon one... 

The next simplest loop would contain at least one reaction in which three electron pairs are re-paired. Inspection of the possible combinations of two four-electron reactions and one six-electron reaction starting with CHDN reveals that they all lead to phase preseiwing i p loops that do not contain a conical intersection. It is therefore necessary to examine loops in which one leg results in a two electron-pair exchange, and the other two legs involve three elechon-pair exchanges fip loops). As will be discussed in Section VI, all reported products (except the helicopter-type elimination of H2) can be understood on the basis of four-electron loops. We therefore proceed to discuss the unique helicopter... 

The key to the correct answer is the fact that the conversion of one type-V (or VI) structures to another is a phase-inverting reaction, with a 62 species transition state. This follows from the obseiwation that the two type-V (or VI) stiucture differ by the spin pairing of four electrons. Inspection shows (Fig. 28), that the out-of-phase combination of two A[ structmes is in fact a one,... 

The prototype system for all four electron problem is the H4 system, discussed in Section n. 

UNSUBSTITUTED BUTADIENE. Butadiene anchors were presented in Figures 1(3) and 13. The basic tetrahedral character of the conical intersection (as for H4) is expected to be maintained, when considering the re-pairing of four electrons. Flowever, the situation is more complicated (and the photochemistiy much richer), since here p electrons are involved rather than s electrons as in H4. It is therefore necessary to consider the consequences of the p-orbital rotation, en route to a new sigma bond. 

If A transforms to B by an antara-type process (a Mdbius four electron reaction), the phase would be preserved in the reaction and in the complete loop (An i p loop), and no conical intersection is possible for this case. In that case, the only way to equalize the energies of the ground and excited states, is along a trajectory that increases the separation between atoms in the molecule. Indeed, the two are computed to meet only at infinite interatomic distances, that is, upon dissociation [89]. 

In the reaction, compound A transforms to B the total number of electron pairs is preserved, but at least four electrons are assumed to change spin partners. 

This algebra implies that in case of Eq. (111) the only two functions (out of n) that flip sign are and because all in-between functions get their sign flipped twice. In the same way, Eq. (112) implies that all four electronic functions mentioned in the expression, namely, the jth and the (j + 1 )th, the th and the (/c -h 1 )th, all flip sign. In what follows, we give a more detailed explanation based on the mathematical analysis of the Section Vin. 

Only the carbon atom can gain four electrons this only happens when it is combined with extremely electropositive elements and this state may be regarded as exceptional. Bonding in carbides is almost invariably predominantly covalent. 

In the case of 1,3-butadiene, RAMSES combines the two double bonds to form a single, delocalized r-electron system containing four electrons over all four atoms (Figure 2-50a). The same concept is applied to benzene. As shown in Figure 2-50b, the three double bonds of the Kekule representation form one electron system with six atoms and six electrons. 

Figure 2-52. a) Two semipolar resonance structures are needed in a correct VB representation of the nitro group, b) Representation of a nitro group by a structure having a pentavalent nitrogen atom, c) The RAMSES notation of a nitro group needs no charged resonance structures. One jr-system contains four electrons on three atoms. 

The resultant corrections to the SCF picture are therefore quite large when measured in kcal/mole. For example, the differences AE between the true (state-of-the-art quantum chemical calculation) energies of interaction among the four electrons in Be and the SCF mean-field estimates of these interactions are given in the table shown below in eV (recall that 1 eV = 23.06 kcal/mole). 

Lewis s concept of shared electron parr bonds allows for four electron double bonds and SIX electron triple bonds Carbon dioxide (CO2) has two carbon-oxygen double bonds and the octet rule is satisfied for both carbon and oxygen Similarly the most stable Lewis structure for hydrogen cyanide (HCN) has a carbon-nitrogen triple bond... 

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