Law of Nirvana

THE BONDING CAPABILITY OF ATOMS AND THE LAW OF NIRVANA FOR MAIN GROUP ELEMENTS... 

In order to use only a single term to describe this attainment of electronic satisfaction, we can call the Duet and Octet Rules the Law of Nirvana —Nirvana in the case of the atom would mean for us reaching the state of no more need to bind. Thus, by attaining duet (for the first period) or octet (for all other periods), the atom reaches Nirvana. ... 

Let us use Scheme 2.7 to illustrate how selective is the Law of Nirvana, by making a molecule from an atom of fluorine (F) and as many H atoms as needed. Since the inner shell electrons do not participate in bonding, we show here and in all examples to follow, only the valence electrons. F resides in family 7A, and hence it has seven electrons in its valence shell, while H has one. Let us suppose we were tempted to think that F utilizes all of its valence electrons to make electron-pair bonds then, as shown in Scheme 2.7a, F will need to surround itself with seven H species, and click, it will form the molecule H7F. Since F has seven electron-pair bonds in this... 

Finally, if we simply obey the Law of Nirvana, then F will have a connectivity of one, that is, F , and hence it can bind only one H , and click, they make the molecule H-F, in Scheme 2.7c. Here the F atom is surrounded by one bond pair and three lone pairs together eight electrons at the same time, H is surrounded by two electrons. Both atoms reached Nirvana, and this is the only molecule that is allowed and is observed. 

To summarize this exercise, we show in Scheme 2.8 the correct molecule H-F that can exist under the Law of Nirvana. It has an electron-pair bond symbolized by a line... 

MAKING MOLECULES USING THE AVAILABLE ATOM CONNECTIVITY AND THE LAW OF NIRVANA... 

The example of H-F illustrates the power of the Law of Nirvana, and we can now generalize it and proceed to make some new molecules. Figure 2.3 is a connectivity-based mini periodic table that summarizes the maximum connectivity of main group elements based on the available number of valence electrons and the Law of Nirvana. The number of valence electrons each atom possesses is identical to the numerical indicator of the chemical family. In order to emphasize the connectivity, we label these electrons as red spheres, while the other valence electrons that will form lone pairs are indicated by black dots. 

Construct the simplest molecules from the following atoms according to the Law of Nirvana, and answer the following questions How many electrons does each atom contribute for bonding How many electrons surround each atom How many nonbonding electrons does each atom have, if any ... 

The above examples show the power of the Law of Nirvana. Molecules get stabilized by reaching Nirvana, and hence they become also less reactive. Molecules that lack Nirvana will always strive to look for a source that can provide the missing electrons. In the above examples, the missing electrons came from lone pairs. One can imagine many other examples, and some are given in the problem set following this lecture. 

The Origins of the Law of Nirvana in Ionic Bonds So why do we have Na Cl and not, for example, Na Cl , which will certainly render four times as much lowering of the energy This is because the creation of Na " " requires ejection of the second electron from the exposed valence shell, which has achieved an octet as Na, and simultaneously creating Cl , which exceeds the octet. This would be a huge investment, which would not be overcome by the Coulomb attraction between the... 

Sason My intentions are very focused. I will teach the Law of Nirvana for transition metals, and I will then show how many other atoms/groups must a transition metal bind to achieve electronic Nirvana. 

Since the number of electrons required to achieve Nirvana is so large for transition metal species, the stability differences of other electron counts are not too forbidding. Consequently, the 18e rule is softer than the octet rule, and we may expect to find relatively persistent radical complexes with 17 electrons, and complexes with 16e or even less. These cases are in fact extremely interesting because the electron-deficient complexes can serve as catalysts that activate other molecules. Despite all these qualifications, the Law of Nirvana for transition metal compounds is a very useful guide for constructing transition metal complexes and for considering their reactivity (propensity to react) and properties. Let us see how the rule is applied along with the click bond method. 

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