Molecular orbital theory metallic-like bond

The theory of band structures belongs to the world of solid state physicists, who like to think in terms of collective properties, band dispersions, Brillouin zones and reciprocal space [9,10]. This is not the favorite language of a chemist, who prefers to think in terms of molecular orbitals and bonds. Hoffmann gives an excellent and highly instructive comparison of the physical and chemical pictures of bonding [6], In this appendix we try to use as much as possible the chemical language of molecular orbitals. Before talking about metals we recall a few concepts from molecular orbital theory. 

A simple model to describe metallic bonds is the so-called electron sea model. Metals can be considered as metal cations surrounded by valence electrons that swim around in all directions like in a sea. In that way, metals have high electrical and thermal conductivity in all directions since the valence electrons freely can move around. In order to describe this in more details we have to introduce the so-called band theory. In the band theory the molecular orbitals (that we heard about in the section 2.2.2 Molecular orbital theory) are again included. 

Ligand field, like crystal field, theory is confined to the role of d orbitals, but unlike the crystal field model, the ligand field approach is not a purely electrostatic model. It is a freely parameterized model, and uses and Racah parameters (to which we return later) which are obtained from electronic spectroscopic (i.e. experimental) data. Most importantly, although (as we showed in the last section) it is possible to approach the bonding in d-block metal complexes by using molecular orbital theory, it is incorrect to state that ligand field theory is simply the application of MO theory. ... 

In recent years the fundamental ideas of Huckel molecular orbital theory, the Huckel rule, and other aspects of aromaticity have been extended to polyhedral three-dimensional inorganic structures regarded as aromatic like the two-dimensional aromatic hydrocarbons. Such an extension of Huckel molecular orbital theory requires recognition of its topological foundations so that they can be applied to three-dimensional structures as well as two-dimensional structures. In this connection graph theoretical methods can be used to demonstrate the close analogy between the delocalized bonding in two-dimensional planar aromatic systems such as benzene and that in three-dimensional deltahedral boranes, and carboranes. Related ideas can be shown to be applicable for metal carbonyl clusters, bare post-transition metal clusters, and polyoxometallates. ... 

Bonding in metals involves delocalization of electrons over the whole metal crystal, rather like the n electrons in graphite (Section 3.2) except that the delocalization, and hence also the high electrical conductivity, is three dimensional rather than two dimensional. Metallic bonding is best described in terms of band theory, which is in essence an extension of molecular orbital (MO) theory (widely used to represent bonding in small molecules) to arrays of atoms of quasi-infinite extent. 

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