EXPLAINING THE GEOMETRY OF SIMPLE MOLECULES USING MOLECULAR ORBITAL ENERGY-LEVEL DIAGRAMS BUILT BY USING SYMMETRY PRINCIPLES

The built of qualitative energy-level molecular diagrams for different geometries of simple molecules allow to explain the preferred geometry. The diagrams are built using simple symmetry principles and explain, on basis of the number of nonbonding electrons, for example, why the molecule of water i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inQuímica Nova Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 587 - 593
Main Authors Sérgio P. Machado, Roberto B. Faria
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Sociedade Brasileira de Química
Subjects
group theory
molecular geometry
molecular orbitals
symmetry
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Summary:The built of qualitative energy-level molecular diagrams for different geometries of simple molecules allow to explain the preferred geometry. The diagrams are built using simple symmetry principles and explain, on basis of the number of nonbonding electrons, for example, why the molecule of water is bent and not linear and ammonia is pyramidal and not planar. This simple energy principle does not need to consider the Valence Shell Electron-Pair Repulsion theory (VSEPR theory) neither hybrid orbitals to explain the geometry of simple molecules. This discussion is more appropriate to inorganic chemistry courses where symmetry is a common topic.
ISSN:1678-7064
DOI:10.21577/0100-4042.20170198