Structures, valence bond

The concept of connection tablc.s, a.s shown. so far, cannot represent adequately quite a number of molecular structures. Basically, a connection table represents only a single valence bond structure. Thus, any chemical species that cannot he described adequately by a single valence bond (VB) structure with single or multiple bonds between two atom.s is not handled accurately. 

Benzene has already been mentioned as a prime example of the inadequacy of a connection table description, as it cannot adequately be represented by a single valence bond structure. Consequently, whenever some property of an arbitrary molecule is accessed which is influenced by conjugation, the other possible resonance structures have to be at least generated and weighted. Attempts have already been made to derive adequate representations of r-electron systems [84, 85]. 

Trivalent ( classical carbenium ions contain an sp -hybridized electron-deficient carbon atom, which tends to be planar in the absence of constraining skeletal rigidity or steric interference. The carbenium carbon contains six valence electrons thus it is highly electron deficient. The structure of trivalent carbocations can always be adequately described by using only two-electron two-center bonds (Lewis valence bond structures). CH3 is the parent for trivalent ions. 

Here (in contrast to the approach taken in Chapter 2) we do not assume that the energy of each valence bond structure is correlated with its solvation-free energy. Instead we use the actual ground-state potential surface to calculate the ground-state free energy. To see how this is actually done let s consider as a test case an SN2 type reaction which can be written as... 

With the valence bond structures of the exercise, we can try to estimate the effect of the enzyme just in terms of the change in the activation-free energy, correlating A A g with the change in the electrostatic energy of if/2 and i/r3 upon transfer from water to the enzyme-active site. To do this we must first analyze the energetics of the reaction in solution and this is the subject of the next exercise. 

The idea that the properties of many organic compounds, especially the aromatic compounds, cannot be simply correlated with a single valence-bond structure, but require the assignment of a somewhat more complex electronic structure, was developed during the period 1923 to 1926 by a number of chemists, including Lowry, Lapworth, Robinson, and Ingold in England, Lucas... 

Three years ago it was pointed out2 that observed values of interatomic distances provide useful information regarding the electronic structures of molecules and especially regarding resonance between two or more valence bond structures. On the basis of the available information it was concluded that resonance between two or more structures leads to interatomic distances nearly as small Us the smallest of those for the individual structures. For example, in benzene each carbon-carbon bond resonates about equally between a single bond and a double bond (as given by the two Kekul6 structures) the observed carbon-carbon distance, 1.39 A., is much closer to the carbon-carbon double bond distance, 1.38 A., than to the shrgle bond distance, 1.54 A. 

The electronic structure corresponds to two valence-bond structures resonance not only between the... 

This hypothetical benzene molecule would accordingly oscillate for some time about the configuration a, with essentially the valence-bond structure I it might then pass through the configuration b, with resonance to structure II becoming complete, and then oscillate for some time about configuration c, with essentially the valence-bond structure II. 

The chemical properties of this hypothetical benzene would be just those expected for the valence-bond structures I and II, and, indeed, the substance would be correctly described as a mixture of these two isomers or tautomers. 

Each of these tautomers in its normal state is represented not by the conventional valence-bond structure shown above, but by a resonance hybrid of this structure and others. For tautomer A, with the hydrogen atom attached to the nitrogen atom 1, the principal resonance is between structures A I and A II, with A I the more important smaller contributions are made also by other structures such as A III. Similar resonance occurs for tautomer B. Thus for both tautomers the principal resonance... 

It is often asked whether or not the constituent structures of a resonating system, such as the Kekul4 structures for the benzene molecule, are to be considered as having reality. There is one sense in which this question may be answered in the affirmative but the answer is definitely negative if the usual chemical significance is attributed to the structures. A substance showing resonance between two or more valence-bond structures does not contain molecules with the configurations and properties usually associated with these structures. The constituent structures of the resonance hybrid do not have reality in this sense. 

The question may also be discussed in a different way. The stable equilibrium configuration of the nuclei of a benzene molecule is not that appropriate to either of the two Kekul6 structures, but is the intermediate hexagonal configuration. The valence-bond structures I and II are hence to be interpreted as being... 

In this book the discussion has been restricted to the structure of the normal states of molecules, with little reference to the great part of chemistry dealing with the mechanisms and rates of chemical reactions. It seems probable that the concept of resonance can be applied very effectively in this field. The activated complexes which represent intermediate stages in chemical reactions are, almost without exception, unstable molecules which resonate among several valence-bond structures. Thus, according to the theory of Lewis, Olson, and Polanyi, Walden inversion occurs in the hydrolysis of an alkyl halide by the following mechanism ... 

The investigation of methyl azide, methyl nitrate, and fluorine nitrate by electron diffraction is shown to lead to configurations of the molecules corresponding in each case to resonance between two important valence-bond structures. The unimportance of a third otherwise reasonable structure for these molecules as well as for nitrous oxide is ascribed to instability due to the presence of electric charges of the same sign on adjacent atoms. It is shown that the differ-... 

The determination of values of interatomic distances in molecules has been found to provide much information regarding electronic structure, especially in the case of substances which resonate among two or more valence-bond structures. The interpretation of interatomic distances in terms of the types of bonds involved is made with use of an empirical function formulated originally for single bond-double bond resonance of the carbon-carbon bond.1 There are given in this... 

Figure 2 a) Valence bond structure for C70. b) Definitions of the various types of defect, each enclosed in a closed loop. The muonated centres are labelled. Types fl3, c and 63 refer only to one muonated centre because the other is symmetrically equivalent. The closed loops enclose the atoms which are allowed to relax in each calculation. 

Resonance theory [15] contains essentially three assumptions beyond those of the valence bond method. Perhaps the most serious assumption is the contention that only unexcited canonical forms, non-polar valence bond structures or classical structures need be considered. Less serious, but no more than intuitive, is the proposition that the molecular geometry will take on that expected for the average of the classical structures. This is extended to the measurement of stability being greater the greater the number of classical structures. These concepts are still widely used in chemistry in very qualitative ways. 

The other aspect of a conical intersection that we have tried to emphasize is that there is a relationship between the valence bond structures associated with the ground state or the excited state and the position of the surface crossing. In any mechanistic study this is also very interesting because it provides information that can be used to think intuitively about mechanisms. We will try to emphasize this point of view in the rationalization of all the examples we will look at. 

Experimental information on the complexes between dihalogens and methylated amines is still comparatively scarce. Gas-phase investigations are available only for the complexes of trimethylamine with F2 [41 ] and with C1F [42], So far only a few theoretical investigations on XY- amine complexes have been presented [16,17,22,24,28,32,34,43,44]. On the basis of rotational spectroscopic analysis, the N(CH3)3 C1F complex was described as being dominated by a significant contribution of an ionic [(CH3)NC1]+- -F valence bond structure [41]. For the (CH3)3N F2 complex an even stronger tendency toward an ionic [(CH3)NF]+- F structure was reported [40]. 

In view of the fact that complete methylation of F N- HX to give (CH3)3N- -HX leads to an increased extent of proton transfer from HX to the base when X is Cl and essentially complete transfer when X is I, it seemed reasonable to seek a more significant contribution from the ionic valence bond structure [(CH3)3NC1] + - F in (CT N- ClF by examining properties similarly derived from its rotational spectrum [68]. 

CNDO/2 and extended Huckel calculations 74> of 13 (X = S) revealed a small difference in energy between the planar and nonplanar structure, both with bond alternation. These results can be translated into the valence bond structure corresponding to a cyclic thioether. 

A formula showing how the individual atoms in a molecule are linked together by valency bonds. Structure... 

In practice, each CSF is a Slater determinant of molecular orbitals, which are divided into three types inactive (doubly occupied), virtual (unoccupied), and active (variable occupancy). The active orbitals are used to build up the various CSFs, and so introduce flexibility into the wave function by including configurations that can describe different situations. Approximate electronic-state wave functions are then provided by the eigenfunctions of the electronic Hamiltonian in the CSF basis. This contrasts to standard HF theory in which only a single determinant is used, without active orbitals. The use of CSFs, gives the MCSCF wave function a structure that can be interpreted using chemical pictures of electronic configurations [229]. An interpretation in terms of valence bond structures has also been developed, which is very useful for description of a chemical process (see the appendix in [230] and references cited therein). 

Carbon monoxide has the valence bond structure shown as... 

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