VSEPR model with multiple bonds

So far in our treatment of the VSEPR model, we have not considered any molecules with multiple bonds. To see how these molecules are handled by this model, let s consider the NO3- ion, which requires three resonance structures to describe its electronic structure ... 

The VSEPR model can also be applied to molecules with multiple bonds. In this case, each multiple bond is treated as though it were a single electron pair. (All pairs of a multiple bond are required to be in approximately the same region.) To predict the geometry of carbon dioxide, for example, you first write the electron-dot formula. 

STRATEGY Use the VSEPR model to identify the shape of the molecule and then assign the hybridization consistent with that shape. All single bonds are cr-bonds and multiple i bonds are composed of a cr-bond and one or more TT-bonds. Because the C atom is attached to three atoms, we anticipate that its hybridization scheme is sp1 and that one unhybridized p-orbital remains. Finally, we form cr- and Tr-bonds by allowing the 1 orbitals to overlap. 

Some of these trends are exemplified by the selection of molecules and complex ions in Table 1. They have been classified by (i) the total number of valence electrons (VE), and (ii) the steric number of the central atom (SN), which is calculated by adding the number of lone-pairs to the number of bonded atoms and used for interpreting molecular geometries in the VSEPR model (see Topic C2). The species listed in Table 1 illustrate the wide variety of isoelectronic relationships that exist between the compounds formed by elements in different groups and periods. Species with SN=4 are found throughout the p block, but ones with lower steric numbers and/or multiple bonding are common only in period 2. In analogous compounds with heavier elements the coordination and... 

As noted, the VSEPR model includes also the pairs of non-participants electrons and may include also multiple bonds (with the rigorous distortions towards the ideal geometries, due to the directional effects of hybrid orbital). 

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