Oxygen molecule, molecular orbitals

Compare atomic charges for the enolate anion and the lithium salt. Are there major differences, in particular, for the oxygen and the a carbon Also compare the highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) in the two molecules. This identifies the most nucleophilic sites, that is, the most likely sites for attack by electrophiles. Are the two orbitals similar or do they differ substantially Elaborate. 

Now let us investigate the oxygen molecule, which experiment tells us has the molecular formula O2. We might begin by considering formation of a single bond between two oxygen atoms, as represented by the orbital representation... 

The development of molecular orbital theory (MO theory) in the late 1920s overcame these difficulties. It explains why the electron pair is so important for bond formation and predicts that oxygen is paramagnetic. It accommodates electron-deficient compounds such as the boranes just as naturally as it deals with methane and water. Furthermore, molecular orbital theory can be extended to account for the structures and properties of metals and semiconductors. It can also be used to account for the electronic spectra of molecules, which arise when an electron makes a transition from an occupied molecular orbital to a vacant molecular orbital. 

The n molecular orbitals described so far involve two atoms, so the orbital pictures look the same for the localized bonding model applied to ethylene and the MO approach applied to molecular oxygen. In the organic molecules described in the introduction to this chapter, however, orbitals spread over three or more atoms. Such delocalized n orbitals can form when more than two p orbitals overlap in the appropriate geometry. In this section, we develop a molecular orbital description for three-atom n systems. In the following sections, we apply the results to larger molecules. 

The carbon atoms which are involved in the short intermolecular contacts between molecules (less than 4A 02/C14 and 01/C4, C5, C6, Figure 7) carry a significant spin density. The magnetic molecular orbitals of the corresponding oxygen atoms (01 and 02) are twisted and hybridized. Thus we have evidence that the intermolecular exchange involves these contacts. 

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