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Rebuttal to the Bickelhaupt–Baerends Case for Steric Repulsion Causing the Staggered Conformation of Ethane
Author(s) -
Weinhold Frank
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.200351777
Subject(s) - rebuttal , steric effects , epistemology , chemistry , content (measure theory) , philosophy , psychology , political science , law , stereochemistry , mathematics , mathematical analysis
Two tenets of qualitative MO theory suggest contradictory explanations of ethane torsional barriers, but only one stands up to rigorous examination (see energy level diagrams). Bickelhaupt and Baerends' defense of the neo‐steric “four‐electron destabilization” concept (right) is shown to be as illusory as its predecessors.