Valence unstable

Lewis structures in which second row elements own or share more than eight valence electrons are especially unstable and make no contribution to the true structure (The octet rule may be ex ceeded for elements beyond the second row)... 

There is ample evidence from a variety of sources that carbocations are mterme diates m some chemical reactions but they are almost always too unstable to isolate The simplest reason for the instability of carbocations is that the positively charged car bon has only six electrons m its valence shell—the octet rule is not satisfied for the pos itively charged carbon... 

Rates of Reaction. The rates of formation and dissociation of displacement reactions are important in the practical appHcations of chelation. Complexation of many metal ions, particulady the divalent ones, is almost instantaneous, but reaction rates of many higher valence ions are slow enough to measure by ordinary kinetic techniques. Rates with some ions, notably Cr(III) and Co (III), maybe very slow. Systems that equiUbrate rapidly are termed kinetically labile, and those that are slow are called kinetically inert. Inertness may give the appearance of stabiUty, but a complex that is apparentiy stable because of kinetic inertness maybe unstable in the thermodynamic equihbrium sense. 

The bicyclo[2.2.0]hexa-2,5-diene ring system is a valence isomer of the benzene ring and is often referred to as Dewar benzene. After many attempts to prepare Dewar benzene derivatives failed, a pessimistic opinion existed that all such efforts would be finitless because Dewar benzene would be so unstable as to immediately revert to benzene. Then, in 1962, van Tamelen and Pappas isolated a stable Dewar benzene derivative by photolysis of 1,2,4-tri(/-butyl)benzene. ... 

Transition elements, for which variable valency is energetically feasible, frequently show non-stoichiometric behaviour (variable composition) in their oxides, sulfides and related binary compounds. For small deviations from stoichiometry a thermodynamic approach is instructive, but for larger deviations structural considerations supervene, and the possibility of thermodynamically unstable but kinetically isolable phases must be considered. These ideas will be expanded in the following paragraphs but more detailed treatment must be sought elsewhere. " ... 

Experimentally it is found that the Fe-Co and Fe-Ni alloys undergo a structural transformation from the bee structure to the hep or fee structures, respectively, with increasing number of valence electrons, while the Fe-Cu alloy is unstable at most concentrations. In addition to this some of the alloy phases show a partial ordering of the constituting atoms. One may wonder if this structural behaviour can be simply understood from a filling of essentially common bands or if the alloying implies a modification of the electronic structure and as a consequence also the structural stability. In this paper we try to answer this question and reproduce the observed structural behaviour by means of accurate alloy theory and total energy calcul ions. 

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. 

In an attempt to prepare the parent system via the valence isomerization of the. ryn-benzene-bisepisulfide 2, which in turn was generated from the syw-benzenebisepoxide 3 via diol 4, no valence isomerization to 1,4-dithiocin (1) was detected.3 The bisepisulfide 2 is a thermally rather unstable compound and decomposes in solution even at 20 C, leading to benzene and sulfur as the only isolated products. 

Besides the parent system oxonin (l),5,6 which is thermally unstable and undergoes a valence isomerization to 3a,7a-dihydrobenzofuran (2) above 35 C, some annulated derivatives are known. All reported systems are nonaromatic and exist in nonplanar conformations. 

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 ... 

In the course of the further investigation of resonating valence bonds in metals the nature and significance of this previously puzzling unstable orbital have been discovered, and it has become possible to formulate a rational theory of metallic valence and of the structure of metals and intermetallic compounds. 

An explanation that may be suggested of these facts is that solid solutions of a quadrivalent metal (zinc) in a tervalent metal (aluminium) tend to be unstable because of the difficulty of saturating the valency of isolated quadrivalent atoms by bonds to its lower-valent ligates. With zinc as the solute an increase in free energy at the lower temperatures would accompany the separation into the zinc-poor a phase, in which the versatile zinc atoms tend to assume the valency 3 (less stable, however, for them than their normal valency) in order to fit into the aluminium structure, and the zinc-rich a phase, in which the concentration of zinc atoms is great enough to permit the extra valency of zinc to be satisfied through the formation of Zn-Zn bonds. 

Although electron affinity values show only one clear trend, there is a recognizable pattern in the values that are positive. When the electron that is added must occupy a new orbital, the resulting anion is unstable. Thus, all the elements of Group 2 have positive electron affinities, because their valence S orbitals are filled. Similarly, all the noble gases have positive electron affinities, because their valence a p orbitals are filled. Elements with half-filled orbitals also have lower electron affinities than their neighbors. As examples, N (half-filled 2 p orbital set) has a positive electron affinity, and so does Mn (half-filled 3 d orbital set). 

C08-0066. According to Appendix C, each of the following elements has a positive electron affinity. For each one, constmct its valence orbital energy level diagram and use it to explain why the anion is unstable N, Mg, and Zn. 

Both fin and lead from Group IV can form valency two and four compounds. Two of the four outer electrons can behave as inert when the atoms are bivalent. Bivalent tin (stannous) derivatives are covalent whereas the nitrate and sulphate of bivalent lead (plumbous) are ionic. Some tetavalent compounds such as the hydrides and chloride are unstable, e.g. ... 

The effect of substituents on colour in substituted anthraquinones may be rationalised using the valence-bond (resonance) approach, in the same way as has been presented previously for a series of azo dyes (see Chapter 2 for details). For the purpose of explaining the colour of the dyes, it is assumed that the ground electronic state of the dye most closely resembles the most stable resonance forms, the normal Kekule-type structures, and that the first excited state of the dye more closely resembles the less stable, charge-separated forms. Some relevant resonance forms for anthraquinones 52, 52c, 52d and 52f are illustrated in Figure 4.3. The ground state of the parent compound 52 is assumed to resemble closely structures such as I, while charge-separated forms, such as structure II, are assumed to make a major contribution to the first excited state. Structure II is clearly unstable due to the carbocationic centre. In the case of aminoanthraquinones 52c and 52d, donation of the lone pair from the... 

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