Molecular orbital valence bond method

A. The Diatomics-in-MolecuIes Method, and Mixed Molecular Orbital-Valence Bond Methods... 

Mo Y, Gao J (2000) Ab initio QM/MM simulations with a molecular orbital-valence bond (MOVB) method application to an SN2 reaction in water. J Comput Chem 21(16) 1458—1469... 

The first point to remark is that methods that are to be incorporated in MD, and thus require frequent updates, must be both accurate and efficient. It is likely that only semi-empirical and density functional (DFT) methods are suitable for embedding. Semi-empirical methods include MO (molecular orbital) [90] and valence-bond methods [89], both being dependent on suitable parametrizations that can be validated by high-level ab initio QM. The quality of DFT has improved recently by refinements of the exchange density functional to such an extent that its accuracy rivals that of the best ab initio calculations [91]. DFT is quite suitable for embedding into a classical environment [92]. Therefore DFT is expected to have the best potential for future incorporation in embedded QM/MD. 

For a molecule as simple as Fl2, it is hard to see much difference between the valence bond and molecular orbital methods. The most important differences appear- in molecules with more than two atoms. In those cases, the valence bond method continues to view a molecule as a collection of bonds between connected atoms. The molecular- orbital method, however, leads to a picture in which the sane electron can be associated with many, or even all, of the atoms in a molecule. We ll have more to say about the similarities and differences in valence bond and molecular- orbital theory as we continue to develop their principles, beginning with the simplest alkanes methane, ethane, and propane. 

There are two principal methods available for the quantum mechanical treatment of molecular structure, the valence bond method and the molecular orbital method. In this paper we shall make use of the latter, since it is simpler in form and is more easily adapted to quantitative calculations.3 We accordingly consider each electron... 

Table 2.4 shows a comparison of the experimental and PPP-MO calculated electronic spectral data for azobenzene and the three isomeric monoamino derivatives. It is noteworthy that the ortho isomer is observed to be most bathochromic, while the para isomer is least bathoch-romic. From a consideration of the principles of the application of the valence-bond approach to colour described in the previous section, it might have been expected that the ortho and para isomers would be most bathochromic with the meta isomer least bathochromic. In contrast, the data contained in Table 2.4 demonstrate that the PPP-MO method is capable of correctly accounting for the relative bathochromicities of the amino isomers. It is clear, at least in this case, that the valence-bond method is inferior to the molecular orbital approach. An explanation for the failure of the valence-bond method to predict the order of bathochromicities of the o-, m- and p-aminoazobenzenes emerges from a consideration of the changes in 7r-electron charge densities on excitation calculated by the PPP-MO method, as illustrated in Figure 2.14. 

Most of the commonly used electronic-structure methods are based upon Hartree-Fock theory, with electron correlation sometimes included in various ways (Slater, 1974). Typically one begins with a many-electron wave function comprised of one or several Slater determinants and takes the one-electron wave functions to be molecular orbitals (MO s) in the form of linear combinations of atomic orbitals (LCAO s) (An alternative approach, the generalized valence-bond method (see, for example, Schultz and Messmer, 1986), has been used in a few cases but has not been widely applied to defect problems.)... 

Quantum-chemical cluster models, 34 131-202 computer programs, 34 134 methods, 34 135-138 for chemisorption, 34 135 the local approach, 34 132 molecular orbital methods, 34 135 for surface structures, 34 135 valence bond method, 34 135 Quantum chemistry, heat of chemisorption determination, 37 151-154 Quantum conversion, in chloroplasts, 14 1 Quantum mechanical simulations bond activation, 42 2, 84—107 Quasi-elastic neutron scattering benzene... 

Under the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, two major methods exist to determine the electronic structure of molecules The valence bond (VB) and the molecular orbital (MO) methods (Atkins, 1986). In the valence bond method, the chemical bond is assumed to be an electron pair at the onset. Thus, bonds are viewed to be distinct atom-atom interactions, and upon dissociation molecules always lead to neutral species. In contrast, in the MO method the individual electrons are assumed to occupy an orbital that spreads the entire nuclear framework, and upon dissociation, neutral and ionic species form with equal probabilities. Consequently, the charge correlation, or the avoidance of one electron by others based on electrostatic repulsion, is overestimated by the VB method and is underestimated by the MO method (Atkins, 1986). The MO method turned out to be easier to apply to complex systems, and with the advent of computers it became a powerful computational tool in chemistry. Consequently, we shall concentrate on the MO method for the remainder of this section. 

Unfortunately, the Schrodinger equation can be solved exactly only for one-electron systems such as the hydrogen atom. If it could be solved exactly for molecules containing two or more electrons,3 we would have a precise picture of the shape of the orbitals available to each electron (especially for the important ground state) and the energy for each orbital. Since exact solutions are not available, drastic approximations must be made. There are two chief general methods of approximation the molecular-orbital method and the valence-bond method. 

The molecular-orbital method of calculating bond order is more complicated than the valence-bond method. See Ref 3. p. 36 Clarkson Coulson Goodwin. Ref. 4. 

C-3.C-6 bond is double in only one. In most cases it is easier to treat cross-conjugated molecules by the molecular-orbital method than by the valence-bond method. 

IN the past twenty years the electronic structures of many organic molecules, particularly benzene and related compounds, have been discussed in toms of the molecular orbital and valence bond methods.1 During the same period the structures of inorganic ions have been inferred from the bond distances f a bond distance shorter than the sum of the conventional radii has been attributed to the resonance of double bonded structures with the single bonded or Lewis structure. 

We have used the concepts of the resonance methods many times in previous chapters to explain the chemical behavior of compounds and to describe the structures of compounds that cannot be represented satisfactorily by a single valence-bond structure (e.g., benzene, Section 6-5). We shall assume, therefore, that you are familiar with the qualitative ideas of resonance theory, and that you are aware that the so-called resonance and valence-bond methods are in fact synonymous. The further treatment given here emphasizes more directly the quantum-mechanical nature of valence-bond theory. The basis of molecular-orbital theory also is described and compared with valence-bond theory. First, however, we shall discuss general characteristics of simple covalent bonds that we would expect either theory to explain. 

The valence bond method has not been used as widely as the molecular orbital approach. With the inclusion of polar structures, however, the valence bond method gives correct orientation for electrophilic substitution and a calculated dipole moment close to the experimental value.100 An application of the one-center method of the 7r-electron system of pyrrole gives electron densities of 1.612, 1.167, and 1.028 on the nitrogen atom and the a- and /3-carbon atoms, respectively.101 Transition energies and the dipole moment by this method are in accord with the observed values. 

The quantum mechanical methods described in this book are all molecular orbital (MO) methods, or oriented toward the molecular orbital approach ab initio and semiempirical methods use the MO method, and density functional methods are oriented toward the MO approach. There is another approach to applying the Schrodinger equation to chemistry, namely the valence bond method. Basically the MO method allows atomic orbitals to interact to create the molecular orbitals of a molecule, and does not focus on individual bonds as shown in conventional structural formulas. The VB method, on the other hand, takes the molecule, mathematically, as a sum (linear combination) of structures each of which corresponds to a structural formula with a certain pairing of electrons [16]. The MO method explains in a relatively simple way phenomena that can be understood only with difficulty using the VB method, like the triplet nature of dioxygen or the fact that benzene is aromatic but cyclobutadiene is not [17]. With the application of computers to quantum chemistry the MO method almost eclipsed the VB approach, but the latter has in recent years made a limited comeback [18],... 

Nevertheless, acknowledging or denying the existence of differences between resonance theory and classical structural theory was dependent on their different assessments of the role of alternative methods to study molecular structure. Wheland equated resonance theory to the valence bond method and viewed them as alternatives to the molecular orbital method. Pauling conceded that the valence bond method could be compared with the molecular orbital method, but not with... 

G. W. Wheland, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 159, 397 (1938). The Electronic Structure of Some Polyenes and Aromatic Molecules. V—A Comparison of Molecular Orbital and Valence Bond Methods. 

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