Valence Bond Theory 价键理论.docVIP

Valence Bond Theory Another topic that you’ll need to be familiar with for the SAT II Chemistry test is that of valence bond theory. By now, you are aware that two atoms will form a bond when there is orbital overlap between them, and a maximum of two electrons can be present in the overlapping orbitals.　　Since the pair of electrons is attracted to both atomic nuclei, a bond is formed, and as the extent of overlap increases, the strength of the bond increases. The electronic energy drops as the atoms approach each other, but it begins to increase again when they become too close. This means there is an optimum distance, the observed bond distance, at which the total energy is at a minimum.　　Let’s delve a little more deeply into sigma bonds now and describe them in more detail. As you know, sigma (s) bonds are single bonds. They result from the overlap of two s orbitals, an s and a p orbital, or two head-to-head p orbitals. The electron density of a sigma bond is greatest along the axis of the bond. Maximum overlap forms the strongest-possible sigma bond, and the two atoms will arrange themselves to give the greatest-possible orbital overlap. This is tricky with p orbitals since they are directional along the x, y, and z axes. 　　Hybrid orbitals result from a blending of atomic orbitals (in other words, s and p orbitals) to create orbitals that have energy that’s in between the energy of the lone orbitals. Look at the methane molecule, for example: all four of the C—H bonds are 109.5o apart, while nonbonded p orbitals are only 90o apart. 　　The orbitals shown at the left of the figure are for a nonbonded carbon atom, but once the carbon atom begins to bond with other atoms (in this case hydrogen), the atomic orbitals hybridize, and this changes their shape considerably. Notice how the first set of figures form the sp3 atomic orbital, the hybrid, and this leads to further hybridization. 　　Ammonia also has sp3 hybridization, even though it has a lone pair. 　　Multiple Bon