Halogen intermolecular separations

The principal intermolecular donor-acceptor interactions of this weakly bound complex are found to be of 7tcc-OBrBr form (3 x 0.20 kcalmol-1), as illustrated in Fig. 5.41(b). A prominent feature of Br2 (and other heavy halogens) is the nearly pure-p character of the bromine bonding hybrid, resulting in a conspicuous backside lobe on the OBrBr antibond (see Fig. 5.41(b)) that is effective in end-on complexation to the pi-donor face of benzene. The unusually small energy separation between donor and acceptor NBOs,... 

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