INDEX Electron-deficient molecules

When a molecule takes part in a reaction, it is properties at the molecular level which determine its chemical behaviour. Such intrinsic properties cannot be measured directly, however. What can be measured are macroscopic molecular properties which are likely to be manifestations of the intrinsic properties. It is therefore reasonable to assume that we can use macroscopic properties as probes on intrinsic properties. Through physical chemical models it is sometimes possible to relate macroscopic properties to intrinsic properties. For instance 13C NMR shifts can be used to estimate electron densities on different carbon atoms in a molecule. It is reasonable to expect that macroscopic observable properties which depend on the same intrinsic property will be more or less correlated to each other. It is also likely that observed properties which depend on different intrinsic properties will not be strongly correlated. A few examples illustrate this In a homologous series of compounds, the melting points and the boiling points are correlated. They depend on the strengths of intermolecular forces. To some extent such forces are due to van der Waals interactions, and hence, it is reasonable to assume a correlation also to the molar mass. Another example is furnished by the rather fuzzy concept nucleophilicity . What is usually meant by this term is the ability to donate electron density to an electron-deficient site. A number of measurable properties are related to this intrinsic property, e.g. refractive index, basicity as measured by pK, ionization potential, HOMO-LUMO energies, n — n ... 

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