Single bond distances in polyatomic molecules

As long ago as in 1941, Schomaker and Stevenson suggested that single bond distances 

5 A modified Schomaker-Stevenson rule for the prediction of single bond distances between p-block elements 

In the following we shall confine our discussion to bond distances between Lewis-valent atoms, i.e. trivalent atoms in Group 13, tetravalent atoms in Group 14, trivalent in Group 

With the passing years it has become clear that the original Schomaker-Stevensen rule underestimates the bond shortening for large electronegativity differences, say /a—xb I 1 This difficulty may be overcome by a simple modification  

The constant c and the bonding radii of the 17 elements H, C, Si, Ge, Sn, N, P, As, Sb, O, S, Se, Te, F, Cl, Br and I have been adjusted to yield the best possible agreement with the 100 reference bond distances in Table 6.2. 

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Fig. 6.5. Bond shortening, — A/J(A-B), as a function of the electronegativity difference Ax-6.4 Single bond distances in polyatomic molecules...

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