10: Orbitals and Bonding Theories
- Page ID
- 170038
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- 10.1: Localized Electron Model of Covalent Bonding
- A more sophisticated treatment of bonding is needed for systems such as these. In this section, we present a quantum mechanical description of bonding, in which bonding electrons are viewed as being localized between the nuclei of the bonded atoms. The overlap of bonding orbitals is substantially increased through a process called hybridization, which results in the formation of stronger bonds.
- 10.2: Hybrid Atomic Orbitals
- The localized valence bonding theory uses a process called hybridization, in which atomic orbitals that are similar in energy but not equivalent are combined mathematically to produce sets of equivalent orbitals that are properly oriented to form bonds. These new combinations are called hybrid atomic orbitals because they are produced by combining (hybridizing) two or more atomic orbitals from the same atom.
- 10.3: Orbital Overlap in Multiple Bonds
- To describe the bonding in more complex molecules with multiple bonds, we can use an approach that uses hybrid atomic orbitals to describe the \(\sigma\) bonding and molecular orbitals to describe the \(\pi\) bonding. In this approach, unhybridized np orbitals on atoms bonded to one another are allowed to interact to produce bonding, antibonding, or nonbonding combinations.
- 10.4: Molecular Orbital Theory
- The positions and energies of electrons in molecules can be described in terms of molecular orbitals (MOs) A particular spatial distribution of electrons in a molecule that is associated with a particular orbital energy.—a spatial distribution of electrons in a molecule that is associated with a particular orbital energy. As the name suggests, molecular orbitals are not localized on a single atom but extend over the entire molecule.