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H 2 1sσ* antibonding molecular orbital. In theoretical chemistry, an antibonding orbital is a type of molecular orbital that weakens the chemical bond between two atoms and helps to raise the energy of the molecule relative to the separated atoms. Such an orbital has one or more nodes in the bonding region between the nuclei.
The p-orbitals oriented in the z-direction (p z) can overlap end-on forming a bonding (symmetrical) σ orbital and an antibonding σ* molecular orbital. In contrast to the sigma 1s MO's, the σ 2p has some non-bonding electron density at either side of the nuclei and the σ* 2p has some electron density between the nuclei.
Antibonding interactions between atomic orbitals are destructive (out-of-phase) interactions, with a nodal plane where the wavefunction of the antibonding orbital is zero between the two interacting atoms; Antibonding MOs are higher in energy than the atomic orbitals that combine to produce them. Nonbonding MOs:
When the two atomic orbitals come together, they first fill in the bonding orbital with two electrons, but unlike hydrogen, it has two electrons left, which must then go to the antibonding orbital. The instability of the antibonding orbital cancels out the stabilizing effect provided by the bonding orbital; therefore, dihelium's bond order is 0 ...
Thus, when excited with the requisite amount of energy through high-frequency light or other means, electrons can transition to higher-energy molecular orbitals. For instance, in the simple case of a hydrogen diatomic molecule, promotion of a single electron from a bonding orbital to an antibonding orbital can occur under UV radiation.
An important consequence of setting > is that the bonding (in-phase) combination is always stabilized to a lesser extent than the antibonding (out-of-phase) combination is destabilized, relative to the energy of the free 2p orbital. Thus, in general, 2-center 4-electron interactions, where both the bonding and antibonding orbitals are occupied ...
2 O, the 2s orbital of oxygen is mixed with the premixed hydrogen orbitals, forming a new bonding (2a 1) and antibonding orbital (4a 1). Similarly, the 2p orbital (b 1) and the other premixed hydrogen 1s orbitals (b 1) are mixed to make bonding orbital 1b 1 and antibonding orbital 2b 1. The two remaining 2p orbitals are unmixed.
The corresponding antibonding, or σ* orbital, is defined by the presence of one nodal plane between the two bonded atoms. Sigma bonds are the strongest type of covalent bonds due to the direct overlap of orbitals, and the electrons in these bonds are sometimes referred to as sigma electrons. [3] The symbol σ is the Greek letter sigma.