Molecular orbital theory molecules

Molecular ion (Section 13 22) In mass spectrometry the species formed by loss of an electron from a molecule Molecular orbital theory (Section 2 4) Theory of chemical bonding in which electrons are assumed to occupy orbitals in molecules much as they occupy orbitals in atoms The molecular orbitals are descnbed as combinations of the or bitals of all of the atoms that make up the molecule Molecularity (Section 4 8) The number of species that react to gether in the same elementary step of a reaction mechanism... 

Lewis s theory of the chemical bond was brilliant, but it was little more than guesswork inspired by insight. Lewis had no way of knowing why an electron pair was so important for the formation of covalent bonds. Valence-bond theory explained the importance of the electron pair in terms of spin-pairing but it could not explain the properties of some molecules. Molecular orbital theory, which is also based on quantum mechanics and was introduced in the late 1920s by Mul-liken and Hund, has proved to be the most successful theory of the chemical bond it overcomes all the deficiencies of Lewis s theory and is easier to use in calculations than valence-bond theory. 

Chapter 1 reviews the topics from general chemistry that will be important to your study of organic chemistry. The chapter starts with a description of the structure of atoms and then proceeds to a description of the structure of molecules. Molecular orbital theory is introduced. Acid-base chemistry, which is central to understanding many organic reactions, is reviewed. You will see how the structure of a molecule affects its acidity and how the acidity of a solution affects molecular structure. 

Molecular orbited theory is the other main theory (the first was valence bond theory) used to explain emd predict bonding properties in molecules. Molecular orbital theory... 

The second broad approach to the description of molecular structure that is of importance in organic chemistry is molecular orbital theory. Molecular orbital (MO) theory discards the idea that bonding electron pairs are localized between specific atoms in a molecule and instead pictures electrons as being distributed among a set of molecular orbitals of discrete energies. In contrast to the orbitals described by valence bond theory, which are usually concentrated between two specific atoms, these orbitals can extend over the entire molecule. Molecular orbital theory is based on the Schrodinger equation,... 

J. N. Murrell, A. J. Harget, Semi-empirical self-consistent-field molecular orbital theory of molecules John Wiley Sons, New York (1972). 

Valence bond and molecular orbital theory both incorporate the wave description of an atom s electrons into this picture of H2 but m somewhat different ways Both assume that electron waves behave like more familiar waves such as sound and light waves One important property of waves is called interference m physics Constructive interference occurs when two waves combine so as to reinforce each other (m phase) destructive interference occurs when they oppose each other (out of phase) (Figure 2 2) Recall from Section 1 1 that electron waves m atoms are characterized by their wave function which is the same as an orbital For an electron m the most stable state of a hydrogen atom for example this state is defined by the Is wave function and is often called the Is orbital The valence bond model bases the connection between two atoms on the overlap between half filled orbifals of fhe fwo afoms The molecular orbital model assembles a sef of molecular orbifals by combining fhe afomic orbifals of all of fhe atoms m fhe molecule... 

Section 2 4 In molecular orbital theory the molecular orbitals (MOs) are approxi mated by combining the atomic orbitals (AOs) of all of the atoms m a molecule The number of MOs must equal the number of AOs that are combined... 

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. 

Benzene is described by molecular orbital theory as a planar, cyclic, conjugated molecule with six it electrons. According to the Htickel rule, a molecule must have 4n + 2 77 electrons, where n - 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on, to be aromatic. Pianar, cyclic, conjugated molecules with other numbers of tt electrons are antiaromatic. 

This discrepancy between experiment and theory (and many others) can be explained in terms of an alternative model of covalent bonding, the molecular orbital (MO) approach. Molecular orbital theory treats bonds in terms of orbitals characteristic of the molecule as a whole. To apply this approach, we carry out three basic operations. 

To illustrate molecular orbital theory, we apply it to the diatomic molecules of the elements in the first two periods of the periodic table. 

Among the diatomic molecules of the second period elements are three familiar ones, N2,02, and F2. The molecules Li2, B2, and C2 are less common but have been observed and studied in the gas phase. In contrast, the molecules Be2 and Ne2 are either highly unstable or nonexistent. Let us see what molecular orbital theory predicts about the structure and stability of these molecules. We start by considering how the atomic orbitals containing the valence electrons (2s and 2p) are used to form molecular orbitals. 

Hurley, A. C., Proc. Roy. Soc. [London) A216, 424, The molecular orbital theory of chemical valency. XIII. Orbital wave functions for excited states of a homonuclear diatomic molecule."... 

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