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Electrostatics, the Chemical Bond and Molecular Stability
Author(s) -
Benson Sidney W.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition in english
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 0570-0833
DOI - 10.1002/anie.197808121
Subject(s) - chemical polarity , dipole , polarity (international relations) , chemical physics , electrostatics , molecule , polar , polarization (electrochemistry) , chemistry , computational chemistry , chemical bond , bond dipole moment , partial charge , virial theorem , molecular physics , atomic physics , transition dipole moment , physics , quantum mechanics , organic chemistry , biochemistry , galaxy , cell
Electrostatic models of the chemical bond are based on the Virial Theorem and hold promise for providing a reliable and accurate method for predicting heats of formation of molecules and free radicals. The Principle of Alternating Polarity which states that those compounds are most stable in which atoms of opposite polarity are bonded is shown to be quantitatively described by electrostatic models. Current fixed partial‐charge models account for Δ H f 0of hydrocarbon molecules and radicals. With inclusion of polarization effects, whose energies are small, they also account for the dipole moments in hydrocarbons. A brief account is given of a more general model with significant polarization interaction which is under development and which appears to be able to account for both Δ H f 0and dipole moments of polar molecules.