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Chemistry LibreTexts

12: Quantum Mechanical Picture of Bond Making and Breaking Reactions

  • Page ID
    60569
    • Jack Simons and Jeff Nichols
    • University of Utah and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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    Along "reaction paths", configurations can be connected one-to-one according to their symmetries and energies. This is another part of the Woodward-Hoffmann rules

    • 12.1: Concepts of Configuration and State Energies
      This page covers the construction and significance of Configuration Correlation Diagrams (CCDs) and State Correlation Diagrams (SCDs) for analyzing electronic states using Configuration State Functions (CSFs). It emphasizes the role of CSF energies in revealing electronic interactions and coupling through Slater-Condon rules, illustrated by the disrotatory reaction of 1,3-butadiene.
    • 12.2: Mixing of Covalent and Ionic Configurations
      This page explores the complexities of chemical bonding using the hydrogen molecule (H₂) as a case study. It details six electronic states from two-orbital, two-electron systems, categorizing them by heterolytic and homolytic dissociation. The significance of these states' energies and bond character is highlighted, especially in relation to transition metals and metal-ligand complexes.
    • 12.3: Various Types of Configuration Mixing
      This page covers essential and dynamical configuration interaction (CI) in electronic wavefunction modeling. Essential CI involves combining multiple configuration state functions (CSFs) due to avoided crossings in reaction paths. Dynamical CI emphasizes the necessity of multiconfigurational wavefunctions, even in weakly mixed cases, illustrated by examples such as olefins and alkaline earth atoms.


    This page titled 12: Quantum Mechanical Picture of Bond Making and Breaking Reactions is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jack Simons and Jeff Nichols via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.