Localized orbitals, local origin resonance

The reason for this becomes apparent when one compares the shapes of the localized it orbitals with that of the ethylene 7r orbital. All of the former have a positive lobe which extends over at least three atoms. In contrast, the ethylene orbital is strictly limited to two atoms, i.e., the ethylene 7r orbital is considerably more localized than even the maximally localized orbitals occurring in the aromatic systems. This, then, is the origin of the theoretical resonance energy the additional stabilization that is found in aromatic conjugated systems arises from the fact that even the maximally localized it orbitals are still more delocalized than the ethylene orbital. The localized description permits us therefore to be more precise and suggests that resonance stabilization in aromatic molecules be ascribed to a "local delocalization of each localized orbital. One infers that it electrons are more delocalized than a electrons because only half as many orbitals cover the same available space. It is also noteworthy that localized it orbitals situated on joint atoms (n 2, it23, ir l4, n22 ) contribute more stabilization than those located on non-joint atoms, i.e. the joint provides more paths for local delocalization. 

Here, p is the reduced resonance integral that we have just defined and S is the overlap between orbitals a and b. Note that if instead of using purely localized AOs for a and b, we use semilocalized Coulson-Fischer orbitals, Eq. [41] will not be the simple HL-bond energy but would represent the bonding energy of the real A B bond that includes its optimized covalent and ionic components. In this case, the origins of the energy would still correspond to the QC determinant with the localized orbitals. Unless otherwise specified, we will always use qualitative VB theory with this latter convention. 

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